The second phase of an IMO-implemented project to enhance safe and environmentally sound ship recycling in Bangladesh has been launched with the first Project Executive Committee meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh (2 July). The SENSREC Project Phase II - Capacity Building, funded under a US$1.1 million agreement with Norway, will focus on legal and institutional analysis of ship recycling in the country and will develop a roadmap for the Government of Bangladesh to accede to the 2009 Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HongKong Convention). The two-year project will also provide training for workers in ship recycling yards, supervisors and government officials.
The project is being executed and implemented by IMO, in partnership with the Ministry of Industries of the Government of Bangladesh. The Executive Committee (the decision-making body of the project) was co-chaired by Mr. Md Enamul Hoque, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Industries of Bangladesh and IMO’s Jose Matheickal. In January this year, the Parliament of Bangladesh approved its Ship Recycling Bill, which includes a timeframe for accession to the Hong Kong Convention by Bangladesh within five years.