India’s decision to introduce additional documentation checks before end-of-life vessels are cleared could prevent the practice of fake documents among the shadow fleet, Wirana Shipping Corporation highlights.
India remains one of the world’s main ship recycling destinations, supported by experienced yards and established infrastructure. The recent decision taken by the Directorate General of Maritime Administration (DGMA) to introduce an additional process of documentation checks will act as a deterrent to ships being sent for recycling with fake documents, says Wirana Shipping.
As explained, the move comes amid growing reports of vessels operating with false or improperly used registration documents. This trend has been linked to the so-called shadow fleet, whose size and lack of transparency have raised increasing regulatory and compliance concerns.
Data from the International Maritime Organization’s secretariat indicates that hundreds of vessels are currently recorded with questionable or false documentation, heightening the risk of illicit or non-transparent recycling practices.
Wirana says the shadow fleet will have many vessels that would need to be recycled sooner than later because of their age. There would also be more vessels from the shadow fleet that may need to be sent for recycling due to the major shift in U.S Sanctions on Venezuela, with the selective roll-back strategy which has eased restrictions in the oil and gas sector.
"We are seeing sanctioned ships making their way to ship recycling facilities in Alang, India and this has been possible to a certain extent with fake or altered documentation. Even though banks in India do not work or affect bank fund transfers for sanctioned vessels, there is no regulation that specially bans sanctioned vessels from being recycled in India."
…said Rakesh Khetan, CEO, Wirana.
Wirana has been vocal on this issue and has raised concerns that allowing sanctioned vessels causes problems for ship recyclers who buy clean vessels as they are unable to compete with sanctioned vessels sold at a substantially cheaper price,
Furthermore, Khetan stressed if this practice is allowed to continue then the ship recycling sector in Alang, India, is at risk of gradually being killed off.
"An additional check on documents being submitted for incoming vessels for recycling will surely make it difficult for vessels with fake documents to pass through.But there will still be cases where a sanctioned vessel is able to get clearance in India if genuine flag states and insurance companies accept business for sanctioned vessels."
…Rakesh Khetan further highlights.
In a related development, recently GMS called on the European Commission to approve qualified Indian ship recycling facilities for inclusion on the European List under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR).
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