EU agency charged with reducing the risk of maritime accidents, marine pollution from ships and the loss of human lives at sea publishes Guidance to facilitate implementation of Ship Recycling Regulation 1257/2013
The Inventory of Hazardous Material requirement (IHM) under Regulation (EU) No 1257/2013 entered into force on 31 December 2018 for EU-flag vessels as part of the EU’s effort to facilitate early ratification of the Hong Kong Convention.
On 27 September 2019, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) issued its Guidance on inspections of ships by the port States in accordance with Regulation (EU) 1257/2013 on ship recycling to facilitate the Regulation’s implementation.
While the Guidance addresses a number of important issues, there remains some uncertainty regarding PSC treatment of IHM non-compliance. Where a ship’s IHM does not substantially correspond with the condition of the ship, it is recommended that PSC conduct on-board sampling and proceed accordingly. However, the Guidance also states that failure to update an IHM is not a detainable deficiency and only requires an alert message to be recorded in THETIS.
The Guidance also does not confirm whether possession of an IHM certificate support by recorded an onboard procedure to update the IHM will be sufficient for PSC.