Ship Recycling: Environmental and Human Rights Impact

International regulation on recycling of end-of-life ships. The evolving international normative framework at the global level is outlined and the regulatory questions connected with the matter are highlighted. The first international mandatory instrument aimed specifically at ship-recycling, the "Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships", is then analyzed to assess how far it addresses the environmental and safety concerns inherent in ship-recycling. In particular, regulatory gaps and interactions between existing instruments and practices are investigated, with particular reference to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, the London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78), the practice of Human Rights bodies and of the ILO, as well as with regard to EU legal order.