The 23rd session of the IMO Assembly, having noted the growing concerns about environmental safety, health and welfare matters in the ship recycling industry, and the need to reduce the environmental, occupational health and safety risks related to ship recycling and, at the same time, securing the smooth withdrawal of ships that have reached the end of their operating lives, and, having considered the Technical Guidelines for the Environmentally Sound Management of the Full and Partial Dismantling of Ships adopted by the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Basel Convention, and the Guidelines on Safety and Health in Shipbreaking developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO), and also the Code of Practice on Ship Recycling developed by the shipping industry, adopted the IMO Guidelines on ship recycling by resolution A.962(23) in December 2003.

Furthermore, the 24th session of the Assembly, recognizing the need to keep the IMO Guidelines on ship recycling updated in the light of experience gained in their implementation, adopted amendments to them by resolution A.980(24), urging Governments to apply the IMO Guidelines on ship recycling as amended.

The present publication contains the consolidated text of the IMO Guidelines on ship recycling that were adopted by resolution A.962(23), as amended by resolution A.980(24), while also referring to the existence and relevance of the guidelines on the same subject by ILO and by the Basel Convention.
 

The IMO Guidelines on ship recycling recognise that, in order to contribute towards improvements in ship recycling, it is necessary to consider the ship throughout its life cycle, and also that the use of hazardous materials should be minimized in the design, construction and maintenance of ships, without compromising their safety and operational efficiency, and that there is a need to prepare ships for recycling in such a manner as to reduce environmental and safety risks and health and welfare concerns as far as practicable.