The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (Hong Kong Convention) is at the top of a list of regulations shipowners and lawyers are urging states to ratify and enforce.

In a joint submission to the IMO's ongoing meeting, the International Chamber of Shipping and international shipping law association Comite Maritime International (CMI) have urged member states to push on with ratification of key conventions that are still well short of their entry-into-force requirement.

The submission says it is a “matter of urgency" that member states ratify the Hong Kong Convention; the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage; the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage; and the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea.

It can take years, sometimes decades, before IMO-agreed conventions meet the ratification requirement to be enforced.

It has been eight years since the Hong Kong Convention was agreed by the IMO and it is still well short of its entry-into-force requirement. It was a decade between the agreement of the Ballast Water Management Convention and its entry into force this year.

The joint IMO submission says the recycling convention is critical for improving safety and environmental standards at breakers' yards.

“It is imperative that governments which are serious about improving conditions in recycling yards worldwide make ratification and implementation of the Hong Kong Convention an urgent priority,” the joint statement said.

There are also a further eight conventions already enforced that the ICS and CMI suggest would benefit from wider ratification. These include the Ballast Water Convention and the Seafarers’ Identity Document Convention.

The ICS and CMI say they want to work with the IMO’s legal, external relations and technical cooperation divisions to find ways to encourage the ratification of maritime treaties.

In a separate development related to the Hong Kong Convention, the Asian Shipowners Forum also encouraged states to ratify and apply its standards as soon as possible.

Dr Frank F H Lu, chairman of the shiprecycling committee, said: “We encourage recyclers in major shiprecycling countries to make further improvement towards compliance with the [Hong Kong] Convention.”