Europe's upcoming and controversial Ship Recycling Regulation (SRR) will not apply to the UK after its withdrawal from the European Union, authorities have told shipowners.

The European Commission wrote to stakeholders informing them that the regulation, which will be enforced from December this year, will not involve the UK following its planned Brexit D-Day on 30 March 2019.

“Subject to any transitional arrangement that may be contained in any withdrawal agreement, as of the withdrawal date, the EU rules on shiprecycling no longer apply to the UK,” the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment said in the statement.

Under the SRR, EU-flagged ships are allowed to be recycled only at shipyards that have been approved by the European Commission.

The statement said that the immediate impact is EU-flagged ships will not be permitted to be recycled at EU-approved shipbreaking yards in the UK.

“As of the withdrawal date, the entries in the European list of shiprecycling facilities located in the UK will become void,” it said.

However, some recycling brokers suggest the real impact of the UK’s removal from the EU is that the UK flag may now attract shipowners who want the reputational benefits of registering ships in Europe but also want to avoid regulations, such as the SRR.

The SRR has upset European shipowners because the European Commission's list of approved yards is unlikely to include any in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan when it enters into force.

The current list has been criticised by owners for not having enough capacity to cope with demolishing the EU-registered fleet without using beaching yards in Asia. But they have also complained that the approved yards, so far mostly in Europe, will pay owners much less for scrap tonnage than the beaching yards in the Indian subcontinent.

Shiprecycling is not the only EU maritime regulation that the UK will be excluded from after Brexit. It will be exempt from EU regulation on the freedom on maritime traffic between EU member states and cabotage rules.

The UK will also no longer be involved in the EU's auditing of recognised organisations such as classification societies. The EU's regulation on port state control will not apply to the UK, although it will remain a member state of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding of port state control.

EU regulation on the inspection of passengerships will also no longer apply to the UK.