2. How is ship recycling regulated at International Level
At international level, ship recycling is regulated through the Basel Convention(1) The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Adopted 22nd March 1989, entered into force 5th May 1992. Available at: The Basel Convention (Last accessed 1st December 2024) and the Hong Kong Convention.(2) The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (adopted 15th May 2009, enters into force 23rd June 2025). Available at: The Hong Kong Convention . (Last accessed the 1st December 2024) This thesis focuses solely on the interplay between the two conventions and shall not address the regulation of ship recycling at EU level.(3) Supra Section 1.2. The following sections will examine the regulatory landscape of the ship recycling by interpreting the BC and HCK in light of the international principles in Article 31 and 32 of the VCLT. With the HCK entering into force, the following section shall thoroughly analyse the Conventions and their requirements on ships and ship recycling facilities.
International conventions shall be interpreted “in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the terms of the treaty in their context and in the light of its object and purpose.”(4) VCLT., Article. 31. The process of interpreting shall be used solely when the rules are ill-defined.(5) Cecile Legros, "Interpreting International Shipping Law with EU Soft Law Instruments," European Journal of Commercial Contract Law 7, no. 1/2 (June 2015): 32-38. Article 31, VCLT mitigates this through the general rules of interpretation by stating that the literal interpretation of the ordinary meaning(6) Ibid., p. 33. shall have primacy,(7) Ibid., p. 33.and ought to be in “the light of its object and purpose.”(8) VCLT., Article 31(1). Moreover, Article 31 VLCT establishes that such an interpretation must be uniform with the framework of the treaty, while considering both the preamble and annexes of the treaty.(9) Ibid., Article 31(2). The teleological elements in the first two paragraphs of Article 31, VCLT serve the purpose of hindering narrow interpretations of a treaty.(10) Lo Chang-fa ed., Treaty Interpretation Under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties - A New Round of Codification, (Springer Singapore 2017), p. 41. Furthermore, the Article 32, VCLT extends its scope and includes travaux preparatoire, underling that the circumstances under which the preparatory work of the treaty was concluded shall be considered in the interpretation process. In cases where the meaning of the treaty is vague, or leads to unreasonable results(11) VCLT, Article 32., such interpretative elements are key factors when interpreting the meaning of a treaty.