INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY LAW REVIEW

International Community Law Review 15 (2013) 255257

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Book Review
Tony George Puthucherril, From Shipbreaking to Sustainable Ship Recycling Evolution of a Legal Regime, ISBN 978-90-04-17491-7, (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2010), xvi + 290 pp. The adoption of the International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in Hong Kong in May 2009 was met with much anticipation. It was hoped that this Convention would represent a comprehensive instrument which would bring together and build upon legal obligations and standards promulgated in various fora to foster a ship recycling industry which would conduct its operations with due regard for human health and the environment, while remaining the financial boon that it is for many ship recycling countries. Yet nearly four years since its adoption, the Convention has been signed by only five countries and its prospects for entry into force remain uncertain. What is the basis for such reticence? Dr. Puthucherrils book, promptly published as the first substantive work on the Convention, provides some answers. The book is made up of four parts. At the outset, Dr. Puthucherril helpfully disentangles the complex web of stakeholders in the ship recycling industry. He explains with great clarity the process by which a ship is rendered to the recycling yard, and the interests of the great number of actors who play a role in this transaction. The author also illustrates the hazardous nature of the process of breaking a ship, both in terms of risks borne by the labour force and the consequences to the environment. An overview of the industry in the primary ship recycling countries, namely India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and the dilemma faced by ship owning countries that wish to have their ships recycled but are aware of the risks posed by poor practices in some ship recycling yards, quickly establishes that this is an issue which cannot simply be addressed through national regulation, but one which requires a concerted global response. The second and third parts of the book provide an overview of the efforts to regulate ship breaking at the national and international levels. The author principally focuses on the efforts by the legislative and judiciary of India to regulate the practices of the industry. The authors emphasis on India is, to some extent, understandable given the distinct paucity of information available about the extent of the ship recycling activities in Pakistan and the regulatory efforts in Bangladesh. However the desire to learn more about developments in the countries which command the lions share of the ship recycling market is left
Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2013 DOI: 10.1163/18719732-12341251

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Book Review / International Community Law Review 15 (2013) 255257

somewhat unsatisfied. Nevertheless the role played by the judiciary of India in regulating ship recycling practices provides significant fodder for discussion. Of particular interest is the authors review of the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of India, demonstrating the increasingly active role the judiciary has played on matters relating to environmental protection in the wake of the Bhopal disaster. The Hazardous Waste Management case and the establishment by the Supreme Court of the High Powered Committee on the Management of Hazardous Waste led the way for the Supreme Court to play a more central role in the regulation of the impact of ship recycling activities on human rights and the environment. The authors summary and analysis of the Guidelines on Sustainable Ship Recycling developed by the Indian Supreme Court and the Report of the Committee of Technical Experts and the effects of the controversy surrounding the dismantling of the Riky, the Clemenceau and the Blue Lady on such Guidelines is particularly detailed and insightful. The author also provides an overview of the various existing legal standards and guidelines adopted by the international community, which predate the International Convention, which apply to ship recycling activities, thereby equipping the reader with an appreciation of the fragmented legal landscape of existing obligations and commitments against which the International Convention was negotiated. The fourth part of the book, perhaps the highlight of Dr. Puthucherrils treatise, is the authors analysis of the International Convention. The author unpacks the intricacies of the Convention with a great deal of clarity, and positions the Convention within the field of existing standards established by the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and the International Labour Organization and the International Maritime Organization. In so doing, the author offers a critical analysis of the International Convention and assesses the adequacy of the instrument in providing an equivalent level of control and enforcement established within other international fora and its effectiveness in addressing the longstanding problems in the industry should it assume the position of the sole legal regime regulating ship recycling activities. Dr. Puthucherrils ultimate thesis is that there are a number of features in the International Convention which should be applauded. The Convention embodies a holistic control system which takes the significant step of identifying those actors which will bear the responsibility for ensuring that the ship is recycled in a manner which limits damage to the environment and human health. The Convention also puts in place a comprehensive control system for certification and verification to ensure that ship recycling facilities are authorized and that there is sufficient information about the hazardous materials contained in a ship destined for recycling so that appropriate safeguards can be taken. Furthermore, the International Convention adopts a cradle to grave approach to ship recycling, thereby establishing a system which regulates the design of a ship, its operation, its decommissioning and deconstruction. Despite attracting a great deal of

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scepticism from many stakeholders during negotiations, the International Convention takes the significant step of prohibiting parties from using ship recycling facilities of non-parties, thereby creating incentives for ship recycling countries to ratify the Convention. Nevertheless, the author recognizes that there are a number of weaknesses in the International Convention which may serve to hamper its ultimate effectiveness. In particular, the author considers that the Convention does not equitably spread the burden of compliance amongst those who benefit most from the ship during its lifetime, instead it lumbers much of the responsibility on the flag States and ship recycling States, ignoring the polluter pays principle. The author also foresees a number of practical difficulties in implementing the Convention, noting that there is a distinct need for technical assistance and cooperation to increase the capabilities of ship recycling countries to meet their obligations under the Convention. In addition to providing students, policy makers and practitioners, wishing to understand the complex business of ship recycling and the legal regime to regulate such practices, with a rich and valuable resource, Dr. Puthucherril also offers his assessment of the sufficiency of the legal standards in place and his ideas on how law and practice can be improved to promote a more sustainable ship recycling industry. This book therefore encourages greater reflection on steps that can already be taken to improve the practices employed in the ship recycling industry so as to forestall more damage to the environment and health, pending entry into force of the International Convention, and to create enabling conditions for the eventual implementation of the Convention upon its entry into force. Melissa Su Thomas
Washington, DC, USA