Bangladesh’s ship recycling industry is pressing the government to withdraw a position that both the Basel Convention and the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) should apply to ship recycling, Mongabay reported on 27 July 2026.
According to the report, the interim government told the Basel Secretariat in November 2025 that both treaties should apply simultaneously. The Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association (BSBRA) has asked the new government to reverse this. BSBRA president Mohammad Mohsin Chowdhury said HKC better suits regional economic realities and that applying Basel could force yards to close. He said 23 Chattogram yards hold HKC green certification, though none is on the EU’s approved list.
The other side
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, questioned why beaching should be allowed if Basel prohibits it, and pointed to post-Rana Plaza garment reforms as evidence stricter rules can strengthen an industry. Ingvild Jenssen, founder of NGO Shipbreaking Platform, said HKC does not ensure safe practices and should include a phase-out of beaching.
Event date: July 2026
Sources: This report summarises the following original reporting. Facts and quotations are attributed to these sources.
- Mongabay, Bangladesh shipbreakers push back against stricter environmental standards (27 July 2026)
More from Ship Recycling.
File photo: a Chattogram ship-breaking yard. Photo: Ctg4Rahat / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This article is a summary prepared by Maritime News BD from the report(s) listed above; it was not independently reported by Maritime News BD.
