Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) certification gives ship operators and other stakeholders assurance that GMS’ certified Sustainable Ship & Offshore Recycling Programme meets highest industry compliance standards.

GMS’s Sustainable Ship & Offshore Recycling Programme (SSORP) has become the first and only Compliance Monitoring program to be successfully verified and validated by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA). Compliance with environmental regulations is increasingly a factor for shipowners, recycling yards and other maritime players looking to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable best practice.

The LRQA verification will assure operators whose vessels are recycled via the SSORP that the process meets the requirements of IMO’s International Maritime Organization’s MEPC 210(63) 2012 guidelines for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling as well as the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC).

LRQA offers independent assessment services including certification, validation, verification, and training around the globe via its network of 48 offices. Its experts audited the GMS SSORP over a two-month period, which included analysis of data on ships recycled from 2019 to 2021. The LRQA validation means that the processes formulated for the collection and review of the source data for the preparation of the Compliance Monitoring reports were designed, established, implemented, and managed by competent personnel to ensure relevance, completeness, consistency, accuracy, and transparency.

Dr Anand Hiremath, director of SSORP and sustainable ship recycling pioneer, said: “As the world’s largest cash buyer of ships for recycling, we at GMS know that shipowners are increasingly requiring their vessels to be dismantled according to the standards of the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships to meet ESG requirements. Our SSORP meets regulatory standards and will give our customers peace of mind when they entrust us with their vessels at end of life. It is also the only program that measures the ’Carbon Footprint’ of the recycled vessel.”

“We have maintained a singular focus to provide the most comprehensive health, safety and environmental compliance monitoring program in the maritime industry. Our certification by LRQA, with GMS as the first company to do so, shows our dedication to responsible recycling and transparency. Our SSORP standards are already in play at the recycling yards we partner with in India, including Alang, and represent a modern face of ship recycling. The efforts and innovation demonstrated by the SSORP raise standards across the board.”

SSORP was established in 2015 and is based on the requirements of MEPC 210(63) 2012 guidelines for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling. Since it was established in 2015, the SSORP has completed the supervision of over 100 ships recycled in India to ensure compliance with the International Maritime Organization’s Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC).

When a ship is sent for recycling at a yard where the SSORP is available, the GMS team of experts monitors the recycling process from the beginning until completion checking 281 HSE data points to ensure safe and environmentally friendly recycling. Key elements monitored include the preparation of an Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) for the End-of-Life vessels, hazmat waste management, training, emergency preparedness and response plan, work safety analysis, ship-specific risk assessment, KPI, accident investigation, block cutting and handling inspection, standard operating procedures, and competency of the SSORP team.

More information about the GMS SSORP can be found here.

About GMS
Headquartered in Dubai, GMS is the world’s largest buyer of ships and offshore vessels for recycling. It is dedicated to sustainable ship and offshore recycling practices and works closely with ship and offshore vessel owners as well as the recycling yards themselves. GMS has built a reputation as an advocate for Hong Kong Convention (HKC) compliant best practices and has invested in training ship recycling yards and their workers to meet HKC standards.