Alternatives to at sea disposal for end-of-life reinforced plastic vessels - IMO’s position -
IMO has been studying this major problem facing the worldwide boating industry in recent years and last year produced a detailed report entitled ‘End of life management of fibre reinforced plastic vessels: Alternatives to at sea disposal’.
The background to their report and its Executive Summary are reproduced here with their kind permission and the full 48-page report can be accessed in pdf format at
https://bit.ly/35mkL26.
Background to the report and how it came about
In 2016, the London Convention and London Protocol (LC/ LP) governing bodies, having reviewed the LC/LP Scientific Groups’ discussion on the widespread nature of the problem of disposing of fibreglass vessels, particularly those that had been abandoned, instructed the Groups to propose recommendations regarding whether to develop advice on the disposal of fibreglass vessels.
In 2017, the governing bodies, noted the Scientific Groups’ discussion on the disposal of fibreglass vessels, and that the issue seemed to be of direct relevance and concern not only to Small Island Developing States (SIDS), but also in other countries with large numbers of recreational craft. They subsequently instructed the LC/LP Secretariat to engage a consultant to collate information on the scale of the problem and to identify key knowledge gaps relating to impacts of fibre-reinforced plastic
vessels dumped or placed in the marine environment.
IMO is one of the partners in the UN Environment-led Global Partnership for Marine Litter (GPML), and within the framework of this partnership, the LC/LP Secretariat was able to allocate GPML funding to commission a study on the end of life management of fibre-reinforced plastic (e.g. fibreglass) vessels, and on alternatives to disposal at sea. In January 2018, a consultant was contracted to carry out this study.
The Report • December 2020 • Issue 94 | 59
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