The Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships will enter into force on June 26, 2025, i.e. 24 months after the established criteria have been met.

The criteria included the ratification of the Convention by at least 15 States, at least 40% of the world merchant fleet in terms of gross tonnage, and ship recycling capacity of not less than 3% of the gross tonnage of the merchant navy as a whole in these States.

Portugal approved the accession to this Convention on February 13 of this year, through Decree n.º 4/2023. The criteria were fulfilled after Bangladesh and Liberia became Contracting States to the Convention on June 25, 2023, which is still a curious fact: Bangladesh is one of the largest countries in the world in terms of recycling capacity of ships and Liberia is one of the largest flag states in the world in terms of tonnage.

The main objective of the Hong Kong Convention is to ensure that ships, when recycled after reaching the end of their operational life, do not pose unnecessary risks to human health, safety and the environment.

These rules were already in force in the European Union, through Regulation (EU) 1257/2013, but from June 26, 2025, they will become globally applicable. The Convention applies throughout the ship's life cycle, addressing all environmental and safety aspects related to ship recycling, from the design stage to the end of the ship's life, also including responsible management and disposal. associated waste streams in a safe and environmentally sound manner. The Convention assigns responsibilities and obligations to all parties involved – including shipowners, shipbuilding yards, ship recycling facilities, flag States, port States and recycling States.

After the entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention, all ships to be sent for recycling must have an inventory of hazardous materials on board. Ship recycling facilities authorized by the competent authorities will be required to provide a specific ship recycling plan for each ship to be recycled. In addition, governments must ensure that the recycling yards under their jurisdiction comply with the #Convention, which will make it possible to eliminate current recycling without conditions on beaches and in yards not certified for this purpose.