First European-owned vessel recycled at U.S. yard 

As European owners struggle to find European Union (EU) compliant ship recycling facilities an unexpected solution could come from the United States where International Shipbreaking Ltd (ISL) has just completed processing its vessel from the region.

The Norwegian-flagged, 16,000 dwt chemical tanker, Wolverine was recycled at at ISL’s facility in Brownsville, Texas.

ISL, part of the EMR Group, has invested $30 million in its facilities to bring them up to compliance with the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR). As such the US yard represents and an unexpected option for EU-flagged owners struggling to find compliant ship recycling facilities as the mainstay yards for demolition in South Asia do not meet the standards of the EU.

The Wolverine arrived at the US facility at the end of January and ISL said that was able to recycle 97% of the vessel. The processing of the 2006-built vessel was one of 28 projects undertaken by the yard in the last year. ISL said the Wolverine was disposed of in compliance with the EU SRR.

ISL has the capacity to safely moor vessels of over 366 metres in length and 48 metres beam for recycling.

“The capacity to recycle these large ships in a safe and responsible manner is available to EU shipowners,” said Chris Green, Senior Manager at ISL.

“ISL completed the MT Wolverine ship recycling project without any recordable injuries to our employees, hazardous or regulated material spills, or regulatory violations of any kind. This represents a new era for International Shipbreaking Ltd. and our parent company EMR in the Marine Recycling industry.

“By investing $30 million in the latest technology, equipment and infrastructure, our business has become the first in the US to be able to recycle ships to a level compliant with the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SSR). MT Wolverine shows that this effort and commitment is paying off,” he added.