- Leading ship recycling company and has been established in 1983
Common Methods & Stages of Ship Recycling
Ships in general have an average life span of approximately 20-25 years. Around 500 – 700 ships are scrapped each year, and about 2000 – 3500 vessels have been scrapped in the last 5 years. The shipbreaking industry has proved to be a dependable system for disposing of large ships from all around the world. The ships sent to be dismantled contain a myriad of hazardous materials, therefore special care should be given while dismantling the vessels.
Shipbreaking yards should be designed in a way to identify, safely remove, safely store and safely dispose of to authorized agencies so that hazardous wastes do not impact the environment or human life. R.L. Kalthia is the best ship recycling company working along the coast of Alang, Gujarat, India. Through this blog, we attempt to simplify the whole process of shipbreaking and elaborate on common methods and stages of ship recycling. The blog touches upon even the minute details that go into shipbreaking and simplify it for you.
Prerequisites for Ship Recycling
Before, we jump to the dismantling part, it is crucial to know the prerequisites necessary for shipbreaking. The below-mentioned list contains all the mandatory certifications and preparation entailed before dismantling a ship.
1. Ship recycling contract – There should be a legitimate ship recycling contract that meets all the requirements as per the HKC and/or the EU SRR and its guidelines, the IHM, ship recycling facility plan (SRFP), SRP, SoC, and IRRC should be listed above all.
2. Inventory of Hazardous Material (IHM) Preparation – The IHM should be ship specific and prepared by a qualified expert covering all 13 – 15 substances given in the list of regulations.
3. Ship Recycling Plan (SRP) Development – The SRP should be developed according to MEPC.196(62), refer to a specific SRF, reflect the specific IHM, and provide licensed disposal and recycling solutions for all materials listed in the IHM.
4. SRP approval process – The SRP requires the Competent Authority (CA) of the recycling State’s approval to proceed further.
5. Approved SRP – The SRP is forwarded to the ship owner by SRF and contains the final version of IHM.
6. Final survey – The final survey is conducted before, the ship recycling starts by following the guidelines of (MEPC. 222[64]).
7. Report and beginning of ship recycling – The SRF launches the start of the ship recycling with the submission of the IRRC to the CA.
8. Statement of Completion (SoC) – The statement of completion is issued by SRF with a report on accidents damaging human health and the environment and reports this to its client and CA
Common Ship Disposal Techniques
Over the years several years, ship disposal techniques have been discarded and many others have been adopted. Ship disposal is imperative to the ship owners as it entails a large sum of money and effort. Therefore, several guidelines are to be followed while dismantling ships to stave off any harm to the environment and human life. Different ship recycling techniques used to dismantle ships are briefed below:
1. Inter-Tidal Landing Method: In this recycling technique the ship is dragged to the beach at high tide when it is floating. The ship is held with winches and the cutting process is planned and carried out with the guidance and supervision of a naval architect.
2. Artificial Reefing: Many times, artificial reefs are created to submerge disposable ships in the water. The artificial reefs provide secure habitat for innumerable species of the marine world. The ship is submerged after ensuring that ship is devoid of any hazardous material that might disrupt marine life.
3. Hulking: In this ship recycling method it is ensured that the hull of a disposable vessel stays unaffected in water, while other functional ship parts are not kept intact. All toxic chemicals are eliminated before a ship hull can float in the water.
4. Dry Docking Method: In this ship disposal technique the whole shipbreaking is carried out on the land and the vessel is dismantled piece by piece. In this environmentally friendly method, the hazardous toxins are not washed off in the sea and do not harm marine life.
5. Alongside and slipway: This method is a combination of both in-water and on-land methods. Using this technique the infrastructure of ships is disassembled while the ship is still on the water. After this, scraping takes place on land where the ship is pulled on the beachside.
Different Stages in Ship Recycling
Once all the authorizations are acquired and the ship disposal technique has been decided, the ship dismantling process begins. The shipbreaking process comprises of following mentioned stages:
1. The ship arrives at the shore.
2. All the areas containing hazardous materials are identified and marked.
3. In the next step, all loose items are removed, before the actual shipbreaking begins.
4. The cutting process is categorized into primary cutting and secondary cutting. The non-metal parts are dismantled first followed by metallic parts cut off using an oxy-acetylene flame.
5. The hazardous materials are systematically removed, securely packed in bags, stored in a specifically marked hazardous area, and then disposed of to authorized agencies.
6. The recovered steel plates are cut into smaller pieces for sale purposes.
Conclusion
Ship recycling is an elaborate process, comprising numerous stages. R.L. Kalthia is devoted to simplifying shipbreaking and its concepts for you. We are the recycling facility of choice for safe and environmentally sound recycling for several major ship owners and their vessels by providing green ship recycling in line with csr credentials. You can contact us at info@kalthiashipbreaking.com to acquire more information on shipbreaking or other shipbreaking facilities.