Chapter 5. Deciphering The Ship Recycling Convention

We are yet to witness an international legal regime devoted exclusively to the issue of breaking ships. Controls on the transboundary movement of dilapidated ships can emanate from various international instruments, the most important of these being the Basel Convention. It is useful to consider whether the Ship Recycling Convention establishes a comparable set of controls to the existing regime, or whether it merely is an attempt by certain vested shipping interests to wrest control over matters involving ships as waste. A brief review of the provisions of Ship Recycling Convention and a comparison of the protections that it guarantees vis-a-vis the Basel Convention provide the basis for evaluating this instrument's effectiveness in regulating the shipbreaking industry. It is also useful to consider whether the Ship Recycling Convention in any measure adds value to the IMO Guidelines on Ship Recycling (IMOGSR) or does it derogate from its stipulations.Keywords: Basel Convention; IMO Guidelines on Ship Recycling (IMOGSR); ship recycling convention; shipbreaking industry