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BMT to Assess The UK's Ship Recycling Capabilty
16-May-2005
A contract to assess the UK's ship recycling capability has been awarded to a team of BMT companies, led by BMT Defence Services Ltd, by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
The findings of the study will inform the development of a UK ship recycling strategy, with a focus on Government-owned naval vessels which is consistent with the existing national and international sustainable development commitments. The awarding of the contract also follows John Ballard’s review of the regulatory structure that governs the scrapping of US naval ships in the UK on behalf of the Environment Agency.
BMT's team will carry out a technical study into the physical requirements of ship recycling and re-use and the disposal of associated hazardous waste. A regulatory study will be undertaken to review the permissions, licences and consents required by companies to recycle vessels.
BMT will also conduct a series of audits on existing and potential recycling sites throughout the UK in order to establish the current and prospective compliance of facilities with the prevailing legislation. Finally, the funding routes which are available to assist in the development of recycling capabilities in new locations will be considered. The team will be led by BMT Defence Services and comprises BMT Cordah Ltd, BMT Murray Fenton Ltd and The Salvage Association. BMT Cordah is responsible for regulatory and funding studies and BMT Murray Fenton for technical studies into the operational requirements of ship recycling facilities. All the companies in the BMT team will conduct site audits and BMT Defence Services will co-ordinate the project and report to Defra on the findings of the study in late June.
Dr Andrew Tyler, Managing Director of BMT Defence Services, comments: "BMT has won this contract because it is independent of all vested interests, has high integrity and the broad range of specialist skills to identify, locate and assess the capabilities of existing and potential UK sites to recycle vessels. These are based on our detailed knowledge of naval and commercial ships, the shipping industry, technical requirements for ship recycling, legislation and our UK-wide presence."