The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (“Convention”) adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on 15 May 2009 has entered into force as of 26 June 2025. Its aim is to ensure that ships that have ended their operational lives are recycled safely and without posing unnecessary risks to human health and the environment.
Turkey has been a contracting state since depositing the instrument of ratification to the IMO on 31 January 2019.
The Convention was set to enter into force 24 months after the date on which the following conditions were met:
- Ratification by 15 states;
- Representation by 40% of world merchant fleet (by gross tonnage); and
- A combined maximum annual ship recycling volume not less than 3% of the combined tonnage of the ratifying states.
Following ratification by Bangladesh and Liberia in 2023, these conditions were met and on expiry of the 24-month waiting period, the Convention entered into force on 26 June 2025. The list of the other contracting states are: Marshall Islands, Bangladesh, Belgium, Republic of the Congo, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Japan, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malta, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Serbia, Spain, and Turkey. As of 2025, 24 states have become parties to the Hong Kong Convention, representing 57.15% of the world’s maritime commercial fleet.
The European Union (“EU”) had implemented Regulation No. 1257/2013 (“Regulation”) which aims to facilitate an early ratification of the Convention by EU member and non-member states. For further information about the Regulation and the European List, please follow this link to our news alert.
As promulgated in the Official Gazette on 26 October 2018, Turkey declared, pursuant to Article 16(6) of the Convention, that it will require the explicit prior approval of the Ship Recycling Plan prepared for each ship before recycling at an authorised ship recycling facility. Turkey’s declaration has made a clear commitment under the framework of the Hong Kong Convention to the inspection and prior approval of such plans by the competent authorities.
As one of the world’s leading ship recycling nations and importers of scrap steel, Turkey is equipped with modern recycling facilities that comply with international standards. At Ersoy Bilgehan, with our extensive experience in the legal framework governing the transboundary movement of wastes and the import of ships for recycling, we advise and represent our clients before Turkish and foreign authorities with regard to making the required applications and obtaining permits.
Please feel free to contact us should you require further information or assistance.
