FR: official ratification of the 2009 Hong Kong Convention for the recycling of ships (decree)

A decree published in the Official Journal of the French Republic on 18/11/2025 ratifies the Hong Kong Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships. Adopted in May 2009 under the auspices of the International Maritime Organisation in Hong Kong, its entry into force was scheduled for the 26/06/2025, following the signatures of Bangladesh and Liberia in June 2023, that made for a sufficient number of signatories to enable the entry into force of the Convention. France had signed the Convention in November 2009 in London, but the ratification in its own legislative framework was lacking.

"The Convention intends to address all the issues around ship recycling, including the fact that ships sold for scrapping may contain environmentally hazardous substances such as asbestos, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, ozone-depleting substances, and others. It will address concerns about working and environmental conditions in many of the world's ship recycling facilities", explains the IMO.

The decree marks the French commitment to implement the measures listed by the Convention…