JAPANESE SHIPOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION
Kaiun Building, 2-6-4, Hirakawa-cho
Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo 102-8603, Japan
Tel : +81-3-3264-7177
Fax : +81-3-5226-9166
E-mail: mar-div@jsanet.or.jp

27 June 2023

Comments by Junichiro Ikeda, President of the JSA
concerning the decisive step to entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention

I would like to heartily welcome the fulfilment of the requirements for entry into force of the HKC
by the deposits by Bangladesh and Liberia this week.
I would like to express my deepest respect for the tremendous efforts exerted by both countries,
as well as the already ratified countries such as India and Panama, and to appreciate theunderstanding and cooperation by the Japanese government in enabling this achievement, especiallyby encouraging ratification by Bangladesh through the Japan-Bangladesh Summit Meeting in April
2023 and other channels.
Two years remain until the entry into force and the JSA will have continued its utmost efforts toencourage the contracting states such as Bangladesh and India to swiftly expand the HKC-compliantyards in order to meet the accelerating demand for the recycling of older vessels, replaced by newer
greener vessels. We will also continue to recommend to our members and fellow associations toensure a priority usage of the HKC-compliant yards. To the Japanese government, we will keep
calling for public support of the recycling countries, including the development of a TSDF (Treatment,Storage and Disposal Facility).
Considering the future after the entry into force, the JSA will continue its regular dialogues withthe local stakeholders to ensure the effectiveness of the HKC and a further step forward, aligningtechnical and social developments. We will devote ourselves to move towards a more excellent
circular economy, by obtaining close cooperation with the stakeholders in Japan and all over theworld who have run with us to date towards the HKC. The JSA, aiming to respect the effective
implementation of the HKC and to ensure safe and environmentally sound ship recycling globally,
would also appreciate continued support by the Japanese government, as extensive discussions
concerning the consistency with the Basel Convention and EU-SRR will presumably begin beforelong.

<Background Information and developments to date>
By the deposits to the IMO by Bangladesh and Liberia, the Hong Kong International Convention for
the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC) has now met the stipulatedrequirements for entry into force and will become effective on 26 June 2025.
The HKC was adopted at the IMO in 2009 and since then, major ship register countries such as
Panama, major ship recycling countries such as India and, of course, Japan have ratified theconvention.

The Japanese Shipowners’ Association (JSA) has vigorously encouraged thesecountries to accede to the convention to foster safe and green ship recycling.

As of the beginning of

this month, it was generally observed that the ratification by another major ship recycling country andanother major ship register country enabled the convention to fulfil the requirements for entry intoforce.
The JSA has actively participated in concerned discussions at the IMO and engaged in technicalsupport projects in the recycling countries. We have also played a leading role in the international
shipping associations such as the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the Asian
Shipowners’ Association (ASA) towards the entry into force of the HKC and stayed vocal at thevarious international seminars for this sake. In addition, the JSA has sent more than 10 delegations
to India, China and Bangladesh, major ship recycling nations in Asia, to verify the situation forimprovements in each yard and to enhance local authorities’ and local yards’ understanding on theimportance in upgrading their facilities and operations.

At the discussions with such local

stakeholders, we have repeatedly conveyed our standing policy to recommend the usage of theHKC-compliant yards to our members so as to gain their momentum to improve the yards, then toratify the convention. In most recent case, a Japanese public and private delegation headed by Keiji
Tomoda, Vice President of the JSA visited Dhaka and Chattogram in May 2023 and paved the final
way for the ratification of Bangladesh.
--------------------------------------(Attachment – JSA’s footprint to date)Footprint of the JSA
2009

2023

HKC adopted in 20092010: Demolition Experiment in Japan

2015: First HKC SoCby ClassNK

2003-2020: JSA
visits to China &India (9 times in total)

2018: JSA was invited to an IMO SENSREC
Project Meeting in Bangladesh2019 & 2023: JSA Visits to Bangladesh

2016: Panama’sRatification

2020: Joined a Seminar
hosted by TradeWinds

2019: Japan’sRatification 2022: Handed a letter to Minister, MLIT,
calling for support to Bangladesh

2019: India’sRatification

2023: Meeting with Minister,
Ministry of Industry, Bangladesh