Summary
Details
- Global
The Convention is mandatory where it applies through ratification and national implementation by Parties. The exact legal obligations for a company depend on flag state, recycling state and domestic legislation.
In practical terms, companies should treat the following as mandatory compliance controls where applicable:
Maintain a valid IHM.
Keep IHM information updated during ship operation.
Use compliant and authorised recycling facilities.
Ensure a ship-specific Ship Recycling Plan is prepared.
Complete required surveys and certification.
Manage hazardous materials safely.
Follow flag state and recycling state rules.
Retain records and documentation.
Avoid recycling routes designed to evade controls.
The Convention does not cover every floating object or every ship in all circumstances. Applicability depends on the treaty text and national implementation. Common limitations can include ship type, size, flag, domestic-only operation, state-owned vessels used on non-commercial service, and ships not covered by the relevant implementing law.
Companies should not rely on a broad exemption without legal review, especially where a vessel will be sold for recycling, reflagged, moved internationally or sent to a facility in another jurisdiction.
Important caution: changing ownership, flag or route shortly before recycling may reduce visibility, but it does not remove reputational, contractual or legal risk where the transaction is designed to avoid responsible recycling obligations.
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What’s Required
1. Inventory of Hazardous Materials
Ships covered by the Convention must carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials, or IHM. The IHM identifies hazardous materials present in the ship’s structure and equipment and supports safe handling during repair, operation and final recycling.
The IHM is central because it connects vessel design, equipment installation, maintenance history and end-of-life dismantling. It helps recycling facilities know where hazardous materials are located before cutting, removal and waste treatment begin.
Materials commonly relevant to the IHM include:
Asbestos.
Polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs.
Ozone-depleting substances.
Organotin anti-fouling systems.
Heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, mercury and hexavalent chromium.
Brominated flame retardants.
Certain paints and coatings.
Oils, sludge and operational residues.
Other materials that can create risks to health or the environment.
Classification societies note that shipowners or ship managers are required to maintain Part I of the IHM throughout the operational life of the ship.
2. Ship surveys and certification
Ships must undergo surveys and certification to demonstrate compliance. This gives flag states and recognised organisations a formal control point before a vessel can continue operating or be sent for recycling.
The compliance process generally includes:
Initial survey.
Renewal survey.
Additional survey where relevant.
Final survey before recycling.
Verification of the IHM.
Issuance of relevant certificates.
The final survey is especially important because it confirms that the ship is ready for recycling and that documentation aligns with the recycling facility’s plan.
3. Ship Recycling Plan
Before a ship is recycled, the ship recycling facility must prepare a Ship Recycling Plan specific to that vessel. IMO states that the plan must specify how the individual ship will be recycled, taking account of the ship’s particulars and its inventory.
The plan should connect:
The ship’s IHM.
The facility’s recycling method.
Hazardous material removal procedures.
Worker safety arrangements.
Waste handling routes.
Emergency response systems.
Cutting sequence and dismantling approach.
Environmental protection measures.
This requirement prevents ship recycling from being treated as a generic scrap process. Each vessel has a different hazardous material profile and therefore needs a vessel-specific recycling approach.
4. Authorized ship recycling facilities
The Convention requires Parties to take effective measures to ensure that ship recycling facilities under their jurisdiction comply with the Convention.
Recycling facilities need systems for:
Worker safety and training.
Protection of human health.
Protection of the environment.
Emergency preparedness and response.
Hazardous material management.
Monitoring and reporting.
Record keeping.
Safe cutting and dismantling.
Waste segregation and disposal.
Control of spills, fire and explosions.
IMO states that each yard must prepare a Ship Recycling Facility Plan addressing worker safety and training, environmental protection, roles and responsibilities, emergency preparedness, monitoring, reporting and record-keeping systems.
5. Controls on hazardous materials during ship life
The HKC is not only an end-of-life rule. It also affects the design, construction, operation and maintenance of ships because hazardous material information must be available and updated during the vessel’s life.
This means shipowners and operators need controls for:
New equipment installed on board.
Supplier declarations for ship components.
Hazardous material documentation.
Maintenance records.
Retrofit records.
Spare parts.
Coatings and anti-fouling systems.
Repair yard documentation.
Changes in hazardous material location or quantity.
6. Flag state, recycling state and facility responsibilities
The HKC creates shared responsibility across maritime actors:
Flag states oversee ships flying their flag.
Recycling states oversee recycling facilities in their territory.
Shipowners maintain IHM documentation and prepare vessels for compliant recycling.
Ship recycling facilities prepare facility plans and ship-specific recycling plans.
Recognised organisations and classification societies may verify surveys and certification where authorised.
Port and coastal states may become relevant through inspection and enforcement systems.
The Convention therefore functions as a lifecycle chain of responsibility, from ship construction to final dismantling.
7. Interface with other waste and ship recycling rules
The HKC may overlap with other rules, especially the Basel Convention and the EU Ship Recycling Regulation. A ship sent for recycling can also raise hazardous waste questions, depending on jurisdiction, flag, destination and movement route.
This means companies should not assume HKC compliance automatically resolves all legal exposure. They may also need to consider:
Basel Convention rules.
EU Ship Recycling Regulation.
Waste shipment rules.
National hazardous waste law.
Labour law.
Occupational safety law.
Port state controls.
Insurance and financing requirements.
Contractual recycling standards.
Important Deadlines
15 May 2009 (adoption): the Convention was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Hong Kong, China, in May 2009.
2023 (entry-into-force conditions reached): IMO states that the requirements for the Convention’s entry into force were reached in 2023. The Convention then entered into force 24 months later.
26 June 2025 (entry into force): the HKC entered into force on 26 June 2025. From this date, ships at the end of their operational lives must be recycled in line with the Convention’s requirements where the Convention applies.
Existing ships (IHM transition period): existing ships generally need to comply with IHM requirements within the Convention’s transition arrangements or before recycling, whichever comes earlier. Classification society guidance notes that existing ships must develop the relevant IHM within five years after entry into force or prior to recycling if that occurs earlier.
Ongoing (ship-by-ship recycling compliance): each vessel sent for recycling requires ship-specific documentation, including an IHM and Ship Recycling Plan. Compliance is not satisfied by a one-time corporate policy. It must be applied vessel by vessel.
Current Status
The Hong Kong Convention is in force as of 26 June 2025. It is now the core global IMO framework for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling. IMO describes its entry into force as a new era for ship recycling, noting that several ship recycling nations had already been implementing technical standards voluntarily before the Convention became effective.
Current status:
Adopted in 2009.
Entry-into-force conditions reached in 2023.
Entered into force on 26 June 2025.
Administered through IMO.
Implemented through flag state, recycling state and national laws.
Relevant to ships, shipowners, ship managers, ship recycling facilities, classification societies, ports, insurers, lenders and cargo owners.
Closely connected to hazardous material management, circular economy, steel recycling, occupational safety and marine pollution prevention.
The HKC should be treated as an active compliance regime, not as a future or voluntary standard.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
Penalties are imposed through national laws, not by IMO directly. IMO sets the international framework, while flag states, recycling states and domestic authorities enforce compliance.
Possible consequences include:
1. Detention or refusal of certification
A vessel may face problems if it lacks valid IHM documentation, survey status or recycling certification.
2. Refusal by recycling facilities
Authorised facilities may refuse to recycle a ship if documentation is incomplete, the IHM is unreliable or the ship-specific recycling plan cannot be prepared safely.
3. Administrative fines
National authorities may impose fines for missing documentation, false declarations, non-compliant recycling, unsafe facility operations or failure to meet certification requirements.
4. Criminal enforcement
Serious cases involving deliberate misdeclaration, illegal hazardous waste movements, unsafe dismantling or environmental harm may trigger criminal enforcement under national law.
5. Civil liability and cleanup costs
Shipowners or facilities may face liability for hazardous material exposure, worker injury, contamination, spills, fires or improper waste disposal.
6. Insurance and finance consequences
Banks, insurers and leasing institutions may treat non-compliant recycling as a breach of environmental, social and governance conditions.
7. Contractual consequences
Charterers, cargo owners or counterparties may require responsible recycling clauses. Non-compliance may lead to termination, damages or exclusion from preferred supplier lists.
8. Reputational exposure
Shipbreaking scandals can attract public scrutiny because of worker fatalities, beaching practices, asbestos exposure, pollution and poor labour conditions.
Examples of Known Violations
Typical violations and failure modes include:
Sending a vessel for recycling without a valid IHM.
Maintaining an outdated or incomplete IHM.
Failing to update IHM records after equipment replacement or retrofit.
Using a non-authorised or non-compliant recycling facility.
Failing to prepare a ship-specific Ship Recycling Plan.
Misdeclaring asbestos, PCBs, ozone-depleting substances, heavy metals or contaminated residues.
Selling vessels through intermediaries or cash buyers to avoid responsible recycling obligations.
Reflagging vessels shortly before recycling to avoid stricter controls.
Beaching ships under unsafe labour and environmental conditions.
Cutting ships without proper hazardous material removal.
Poor containment of oils, sludge, paints and contaminated waste.
Lack of worker training, protective equipment or emergency response.
Recycling ships without final survey or certification.
Failing to segregate hazardous waste from recyclable steel.
Treating end-of-life vessels as ordinary scrap instead of regulated hazardous material assets.
Resources
https://www.imo.org/en/mediacentre/hottopics/pages/recycling-of-ships-and-hong-kong-convention.aspx
https://www.imo.org/en/ourwork/environment/pages/ship-recycling.aspx
https://www.imo.org/en/mediacentre/pressbriefings/pages/hong-kong-convention-entry-into-force.aspx
https://www.classnk.or.jp/hp/en/activities/statutory/shiprecycle/index.html
https://www.basel.int/Portals/4/Basel%20Convention/docs/ships/HongKongConvention.pdf
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