According to Clarkson Research
Services, recycling activity is expected to remain soft in the near term,
volumes may pick up in coming years, amid the potential for softer shipping
markets in some sectors, with strong market conditions having been a factor in
holding back the supply of tonnage to the recycling market in recent years.Alang ship recyclers are banking on the proposed ship
recycling credit note scheme announced in the Union Budget and the
International Maritime Organisation’s Hong Kong International Convention for
the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC) that will enter
into force on 26 June this year, to improve their prospects. Under the proposed
ship recycling credit note scheme, a credit notes equivalent to 40 per cent of
the scrap value of a ship being dismantled in an Indian ship breaking yard
would be given to a fleet owner–both Indian and global–with the credit note
being reimbursable against cost of construction of new vessel at an Indian yard.
With
this credit note, the fleet owner can go to an Indian shipbuilder for ordering
a new ship and get a rebate in the shipbuilding cost to the extent of the
credit note value. To cater to green recycling, some 115 ship recycling yards
in Alang have upgraded their facilities for compliance with IMO’s HKC.