IMO offers key to unlocking governance impasse between Hong Kong and Basel Conventions, says SSI

The governance impasse between the Hong Kong and Basel Conventions, which has deferred responsible investment in leading ship recycling facilities since 2011, can no longer be justified on evidentiary grounds, the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) said today. 



The SSI is urging negotiators ahead of the Basel Convention’s Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG-15), meeting in Geneva, 23-26 June, for the IMO to become the universal focal point for technical work on the Hong Kong Convention (HKC), rather than deferring to a parallel process that the OEWG is not structured to resolve.  

The SSI is also asking negotiators to make two further substantive steps. Firstly, to formalise a joint technical workstream connecting the MEPC 83 experience-building phase with the working group’s analytical outputs ahead of COP18 in Panama City in April 2027.  



For the first time, following research conducted by the SSI at Alang, India, the world's largest ship recycling cluster, there is independent operational evidence from inside a certified ship recycling facility in South Asia that the Hong Kong Convention is working. It confirmed

that compliance is producing materially improved safety and environmental outcomes.  



The Gujarat Maritime Board has committed to doubling Alang’s throughput to 9 million LDT by 2035, and BIMCO data indicates that more than 16,000 ocean-going vessels will require recycling over the coming decade, which is more than double the volume of the preceding ten years. Investment in the knowledge systems, digital infrastructure, workforce continuity and downstream accountability that safe scaling at that volume will require is being held back while the regulatory landscape remains unresolved.  


Ellie Besley-Gould, chief executive, Sustainable Shipping Initiative, commented: “For the first time, there is independent operational evidence from inside a certified ship recycling facility in South Asia that the Hong Kong Convention is working. The governance impasse that has deferred responsible investment since 2011 can no longer be justified on those grounds. The evidence is in. Now negotiators need to act on it. 



"With more than 16,000 vessels coming to the end of life this decade, the cost of another deferral is not abstract. Investment in the knowledge systems, digital infrastructure and downstream accountability that safe scaling requires is being held back. A further deferral at OEWG-15 pushes that back by at least two years." 


SSI’s position is grounded in its study, ‘Alang in Transition: From Compliance to Capability’. Published in May 2026, it is the first openly available independent operational assessment of an HKC-certified facility in South Asia. The research, conducted between February and May 2026, combined structured fieldwork at a leading HKC-compliant facility in Alang-Sosiya with interviews of management, supervisory staff and workers, and validation workshops involving yards, HSE professionals, union representatives and downstream value chain actors.