By the declaration published in the Official Gazette on 26 October 2018, it has been announced that Turkey has opted to require the submission for approval of a Ship Recycling Plan before a ship may be recycled in Turkey's authorized Ship Recycling Facilities under the International Convention on the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships ("Convention").

As we have reported in a previous news alert, Turkey had already become a party to the Convention but until today had not made a choice as required under Article 16(6). The Convention leaves it to the discretion of each party whether to require "explicit or tacit approval of the Ship Recycling Plan before a ship may be recycled in its authorized Ship Recycling Facility(ies)". In today's declaration, Turkey announced that it will require the approval of the Ship Recycling Plan as a precondition inter alia of ship recycling under the Convention. The manner of approval that Turkey has chosen to require is express, not tacit, which means that upon receiving the Ship Recycling Plan, the competent authority will need to notify the ship recycling facility, the shipowner and the administration1 of its decision in writing on whether the plan has been approved or not before recycling can begin.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions regarding this development.

Footnote

1 "Administration" means the Government of the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly, or under whose authority it is operating.

01 November 2018

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