The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has chosen the theme "From Policy to Action: Advancing Maritime Excellence" for World Maritime Day 2026, which will be held on September 24. This theme is particularly significant in the context of ship recycling.
The Hong Kong Convention and Its Requirements
The International Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships entered into force on June 26, 2025. With this event, safe and environmentally sound ship recycling became part of a mandatory global legal framework. This convention addresses the design and preparation of ships, hazardous materials, ship recycling facility operations, certification, inspection, reporting, and enforcement of regulations.
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However, entering the implementation phase of a convention is not the end of the road. Ship recycling is recognized as a serious test of the difference between regulations and their enforcement. A regulation may require a list of hazardous materials, a facility may have a ship recycling plan, and an authority may issue the necessary certifications. But the main question is what happens when the ship arrives at the facility.
Implementation Challenges in Ship Recycling
Does the worker understand the risks before entering hazardous areas? Are hazardous materials identified before cutting? Are hot works controlled? Are confined spaces genuinely assessed? Are workers trained for the tasks they perform? Are waste streams separated, tracked, and transferred to appropriate facilities? Do emergency measures actually work? And most importantly, can facilities demonstrate that their systems work under real conditions? This is where policy turns into action.
Rohit Agarwal, a ship recycling expert and founder of the consulting service Guideship, emphasizes that "action" is actually about people, and this shift in approach is very important. Ship recycling should not be discussed solely from the perspective of ships, steel, hazardous materials, and compliance certifications. At the center of this operation is a human working in an industrial environment with fire, heights, confined spaces, heavy structures, and changing conditions.
Therefore, maritime excellence must come to the forefront. Workers must have the right information, appropriate training, proper personal protective equipment, adequate supervision, and the authority to stop unsafe work. A safety procedure that exists only in a manual is not safety.
The ship recycling industry deserves recognition for the significant advancements it has made in recent years. In major recycling countries, responsible facilities have invested in infrastructure, worker safety, hazardous materials management, environmental protection, training, emergency preparedness, and international management systems. The Hong Kong Convention has for the first time provided a mandatory global framework that brings ship owners, flag states, recycling countries, and ship recycling facilities together in a common legal architecture.
The IMO's message is clear: the effectiveness of international maritime instruments depends on their adoption, implementation, and enforcement. For ship recycling, this creates a straightforward yet challenging agenda for the years 2026–2027: turn the convention into law. Turn the law into procedures. Turn procedures into training. Turn training into behavior. And finally: turn performance into trust. This is the true meaning of "from policy to action."
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