The IMO Hong Kong Convention will set global standards for safe and environmentally-sound ship recycling, when it enters into force. A national workshop to raise awareness of the treaty and its related guidelines has taken place in Karachi, Pakistan (11-13 December), to help prepare the country for ratification and implementation of the Convention. Nearly 40 participants from relevant Pakistan stakeholders, including the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Ship Breakers' Association, Ministry of Commerce and Textile, Customs and Marine Academy - as well as from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Wide fund for Nature (WWF) - attended the workshop and shared their experiences on ship recycling.
The workshop was organized by IMO in collaboration with the Pakistan Ministry of Maritime Affairs to support capacity building for Pakistan on safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships. Pakistan is one of the top five ship recycling countries in the world, which between them account for more than 98% of all ship recycling by gross tonnage – the others are Bangladesh, China, India and Turkey (of these, two are already Parties to the Hong Kong Convention: India and Turkey).