A container ship in the ocean

Hazardous materials and items / Inventory of Hazardous Materials

Safe recycling in compliance with the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR).
And the Hong Kong Convention (HKC).

Hong Kong Convention / EU SRR

What’s inside your vessel­? 
Inventory of Hazardous Materials for Existing Ships!

The EU Regulation on Ship Recycling and The Hong Kong Convention stipulate a host of new requirements, including reliable data and an IHM. The challenge is complying with these over the course of a ship’s entire lifetime.

The new European Ship Recycling Regulation (EUSRR) entered into force at the end of 2013.

It will apply to ships of at least 500 GT flying the flag of an EU member state, and to ships visiting the EU flying the flag of a non-EU member state. The Regulation is mostly aligned with the Hong Kong Convention but some aspects differ. The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC) was adopted in May 2009.

Both of these regulations place responsibility on shipowners and national authorities to ensure the safe and environmentally viable management of Hazardous Materials as well as the sustainable recycling of ships.
A fundamental requirement of these regulations is the documentation of Hazardous Materials onboard ships. New and existing ships of 500 GT and above will have to carry an Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) and the related International Certificate of Inventory of Hazardous Materials (ICIHM) onboard.

This means that approximately 60,000 ships will have to obtain an IHM and the ICIHM within five years, and new ships from the beginning of their operational life.

The IHM for existing ships

The inventory quantifies and locates hazardous materials onboard ships which are known to represent a potential hazard to people and the environment.

For assuring safe and environmentally friendly handling of these materials, detailed documentation of those materials in the ship’s structure and equipment is essential.

For existing ships, the responsibility of drawing up a ship’s IHM lies with the shipowners, who involves HazMat Experts for preparation of the Visual / Sampling Check Plan prior to generating Part I of the IHM.