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29 March 2010, Hong Kong
Joint Statement

adopted
at the 13th interim Meeting of the Asian Shipowners’ Forum (ASF)
Ship Recycling Committee (SRC)

The 13th Interim Meeting of the ASF Ship Recycling Committee was held in Hong Kong on 29 March 2010. The meeting was attended by thirteen delegates from the ASF member associations of China, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Japan. The attendance list is attached.

The Committee was hosted by the National Association of Chinese Shipowners (NACS) and chaired by Mr. Bronson Hsieh, who succeeded Mr. Arnold Wang as the Chairman of the ASF SRC and the Chairman of the NACS in October 2009.
The delegates expressed their appreciation to the Hong Kong Shipowners Association (HKSOA) for arranging this meeting in Hong Kong.

1. The SRC noted that the Diplomatic Conference took place in May 2009 in Hong Kong and adopted the "Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009". The Committee supports the Convention and urges IMO Member States to ratify it as soon as possible in order to achieve the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships.
In this respect, the SRC welcomed that France became the first country to sign the Convention in November 2009 and that the Indian government announced that the related domestic regulations would soon be submitted to the Cabinet for ratification.
The Committee also noted that, in July 2009, the IMO 59th Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC59) approved the text of the "Guidelines for the Development of the Inventory of Hazardous Materials".
The SRC urges IMO to develop other Guidelines as early as possible for the smooth implementation of the Convention in future..


2. Since it would appear that the Convention may enter into force within a couple of years, the SRC recognized the great importance of the early development of the Inventory of Hazardous Materials especially for existing vessels. Shipowners were specifically warned that it is their statutory obligations to produce the Inventory list of their vessels within 5 years of the entry into force of the Convention.
The Committee, at the same time, confirmed that the preparation of the Inventory would need the full-scale involvement of governments, classification societies, shipbuilders and ship equipment manufacturers who have special knowledge of the construction of and equipment fitted to ships due to lack of adequate resources and expertise of shipowners to prepare the Inventory.


3.The SRC noted that the "Guidelines on Transitional Measures for Shipowners Selling Ships for Recycling" was issued in October 2009 by the Industry Working Group on Ship Recycling, which is coordinated by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). The Guidelines are aimed at enabling the shipping industry to minimise potential problems before the new Convention enters into force and to help ensure that redundant tonnage is disposed of safely. The Committee recognized that the Guidelines are helpful for the disposal of obsolete and less-efficient ships for recycling in compliance with the Convention.

4.
The SRC welcome and accepted the FASA-VSA proposal to host the 14th Interim Meeting in Hanoi.

5. Finally, it was confirmed that Asian shipowners, as the major players in the world shipping industry, will continue to discuss the ways in which shipowners can promote safer and more environmentally sound ship recycling.

* * *
The ASF Shipping Economics Review Committee (SERC) is a forum for senior executives of Asian shipping lines to review macroeconomic trade information and developments, as they relate to shipping and trade. The objective of the SERC is to improve the quality of executive decision-making by the review of available macroeconomic data and the sharing of perspectives on major trade and shipping policy issues.

As of 2 March 2010
The 22nd Interim Meeting of
the ASF Shipping Economics Review Committee (SERC)
in Tokyo on 2 March 2010
ATTENDANCE LIST
CHAIRMAN
Japanese Shipowners' Association
Mr Yasumi Kudo Executive Director, Japanese Shipowners' Association
(President, Nippon Yusen Kaisha)
MEMBERS
China Shipowners' Association
Mr Chen Hua Feng (General Manager, Operation Dept., China Shipping Container Japan Co., Ltd.)
Federation of ASEAN Shipowners' Association
Indonesian National Shipowners' Association
Mr Jaka A Singgih (Managing Director, Bumi Laut Group)
Malaysian Shipowners' Association
Mr Balbino Juanito (Senior Manager-Planning, Compliance & Risk Management, Liner Business, MISC BHD)
Singapore Shipping Association
Mr Goh Teik Poh (President, South Asia Region, APL Co. Pte Ltd.)
Thai Shipowners' Association
Mr Teoh Tee Hien (Executive Vice President(Trade), Regional Container Lines Group)
Hong Kong Shipowners Association
Mr Allan T S Wong (Managing Director, Corporate Sales, OOCL Ltd.)
Indian National Shipowners’ Association
Mr Haider Nawaz (Vice President (Business Development), Varun Shipping Company Ltd.)
Japanese Shipowners' Association
Mr Eizo Murakami (Senior Managing Executive Officer, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd.)
Mr Junichiro Ikeda (Executive Officer, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.)
Mr Takatake Naraoka (President & CEO, Tokyo Senpaku Kaisha, Ltd.)
Mr Yasuo Tanaka (Corporate Officer, General Manager of Technical Group, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha)
Mr Tadao Hayashi (Vice President, Japanese Shipowners’ Association)
Korea Shipowners' Association
Mr W W Lee (Executive Vice President, Chief Executive, Container Liner Business, Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd.)
Mr S D Lee (Senior Vice President, Head of Liner Unit, Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., Ltd.)
National Association of Chinese Shipowners
Mr Daniel Liu (President, Evergreen Shipping Agency (Japan) Corp.)
Mr C K Ong (President, U-Ming Marine Transport Corp.)
Mr Randy Chen (Director, Wan Hai Lines Ltd.)
Mr R B Chiou (Senior Executive Vice President & Executive Officer of Liner Business Group, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp.)
ASF SECRETARIAT
Yuichi Sonoda (Secretary General, Asian Shipowners' Forum)
LEGAL COUNSEL
Mr Jeffrey F Lawrence (Partner, Sher & Blackwell)
SECRETARIAT
Takashi Ishikawa (Deputy General Manager, Planning Division, Japanese Shipowners' Association)
Daijiro Mizushima (Planning Division, Japanese Shipowners' Association)
Eiko Kasahara (Planning Division, Japanese Shipowners' Association)
Outline Organization Secretariat History Access Map