NOTING the growing concerns about safety, health,
the environment and welfare matters in the ship recycling industry,
RECOGNIZING that recycling of ships contributes
to sustainable development and, as such, is the best option for ships
that have reached the end of their operating life,
RECALLING
resolution
A.962(23), adopted by the Assembly of the International Maritime
Organization (Guidelines on Ship Recycling); amendments to the Guidelines
adopted by resolution A.980(24);
Decision VI/24 of the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties
to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements
of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, which adopted Technical Guidelines
for the Environmentally Sound Management of the Full and Partial Dismantling
of Ships; and the Guidelines approved by the 289th session of the
Governing Body of the International Labour Office (Safety and Health
in Shipbreaking: Guidelines for Asian countries and Turkey),
RECALLING ALSO
resolution
A.981(24), by which the Assembly of the International Maritime
Organization requested the Organization’s Marine Environment
Protection Committee to develop a legally-binding instrument on ship
recycling,
NOTING ALSO the role of the International Labour
Organization in protecting the occupational safety and health of workers
involved in ship recycling,
NOTING FURTHER the role of the Basel Convention
on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and
their Disposal in protecting human health and the environment against
the adverse effects which may result from such wastes,
MINDFUL of the precautionary approach set out
in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
and referred to in resolution MEPC.67(37), adopted by the Organization’s
Marine Environment Protection Committee on 15 September 1995,
MINDFUL ALSO of the need to promote the substitution
of hazardous materials in the construction and maintenance of ships
by less hazardous, or preferably, non-hazardous materials, without
compromising the ships’ safety, the safety and health of seafarers
and the ships’ operational efficiency,
RESOLVED to effectively address, in a legally-binding
instrument, the environmental, occupational health and safety risks
related to ship recycling, taking into account the particular characteristics
of maritime transport and the need to secure the smooth withdrawal
of ships that have reached the end of their operating lives,
CONSIDERING that these objectives may best
be achieved by the conclusion of an International Convention for the
Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships,