Bangladesh is expected to become a more attractive recycling destination for owners insisting on green recycling as a third recycling facility at Chattogram is certified as being compliant with the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.
Kabir Ship Recycling Facilities, part of the Kabir Group, has received certification from the Indian Register of Shipping, Bureau Veritas and ClassNK as being compliant with the International Maritime Organization’s Hong Kong Convention.
Previously, PHP Ship Breaking & Recycling Industries and SN Corporation where the only Hong Kong Convention-certified recycling facilities in Bangladesh.
Established in 1995, Kabir Ship Recycling Facilities occupies seven acres of land in Chattogram and currently employs over 800 people. The facility is one of several that is operated by the Kabir Group.
Chief executive Meherul Karim told TradeWinds that the process of obtaining Hong Kong Convention certification was undertaken in a step-by-step manner over a “long” period.
Karim also noted that the yard had upgraded its facilities without using foreign consultants.
“We recruited [local] marine engineers to develop and manage the yard,” he said.
The Hong Kong Convention compliance certification comes at a time when price offerings from recycling facilities in Bangladesh have outstripped those of main rival India.
TradeWinds reported on Monday that three ships — a Winning Shipping capesize bulker, a World Tankers Management MR2 product tanker and a Vasi Shipping feeder container ship — had been sold to cash buyers for onward resale to Bangladeshi recycling facilities at between $610 per ldt and $675 per ldt.
Indian ship recyclers, whose price offerings remained below $600 per ldt, did not acquire any tonnage over the past week.
