Following the publication of a report on the Turkish ship recycling sector in Aliağa, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform and the European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL) organised a workshop in Ankara, Turkey, on 10 December aimed at sharing knowledge and enhancing collaboration on ship recycling.
The workshop brought together representatives from the European Commission, IMPEL, DNVGL, industry and civil society representatives, as well as Turkish Ministries responsible for the ship recycling sector, including the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change; the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure; and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Several presentations gave the participants insights on how the ship recycling sector is regulated at national and EU level. Çağdaş Güneş from the Izmir Development Agency kick-started the discussions by presenting their analyses and possible future outlook for the sector. Okan Çetinkaya of the Ministry of Labour and Giray Işıyel from the İzmir Governorship Provincial Directorate of Environment and Urbanization shared how their respective Ministries manage licensing and monitoring. Christelle Rousseau from the European Commission shared the updates on the EU Ship Recycling Regulation and procedures for approval on the EU List. Insights from inspections of ship recycling facilities in Aliağa were shared by Tone Knudsen-Fiskeseth of DNVGL.
IMPEL representatives shared best practices in ship recycling, with the contributions from Huib van Westen of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management in the Netherlands and Beate Langset of Norway’s Environment Directorate. Evren Samur of HKTM introduced the SHEREC project on robotics and AI for ship recycling, followed by Ekin Sakin from the NGO Shipbreaking Platform who presented findings from the report Ship Recycling in Turkey: Challenges and Future Directions.
The workshop provided an opportunity for stakeholders to exchange ideas, including on ways to close existing legal gaps and improve information exchange. As a result of the discussions, participants emphasised the need for further cooperation and more effective sharing of data to enhance transparency and help identify possible ways forward for upgrading the ship recycling sector.