As ship recycling standards have increased across the subcontinent, tanker owners need to adapt to the stricter requirements for cleaning vessels for hot works prior to recycling. As we have seen earlier this year, tragic accidents aboard vessels that were not cleaned thoroughly led to a tragic loss of life and the closure of the Pakistani market for over 8 months now. This should serve as a serious wake-up call to tanker owners that their vessels must be totally cleaned of all cargo residues, slops and sludges in all cargo and slop tanks in order to mitigate the risks of an accident at recycling yards.

Regrettably, we have noticed a few ship-owners are shying away from such an important and fundamental responsibility. This is a dangerous precedent that must stop immediately. All in the shipping community need to sleep sound at night knowing that they have acted responsibly. Every effort should be made to prevent a repeat of the awful accidents witnessed in Pakistan that led to a loss of life, enforced closure of recycling markets, created negative publicity, and reduced (financially beneficial) resale options, which ultimately resulted in lower prices for all wet units across the board.

After working closely with recycling yards, ship managers, gas freeing professionals and ship owners, GMS has developed the industry's first guidelines for cleaning tankers for hot works prior to delivery to recycling yards. These guidelines go above and beyond the routine requirements of gas freeing. We request owners to go the extra mile so that lives can be saved and safety standards further enhanced across a rapidly developing ship recycling sector. GMS has adopted a policy that ALL tankers purchased by our principals on "as is where is" basis will be cleaned according to these guidelines.

Should you wish to obtain a copy of these guidelines, kindly send a request to: green@gmsinc.net