Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) possible sites in the United Kingdom for the dismantling of ships and the disposal of any hazardous materials that they might contain, and (2) the potential global demand for, and value of, such operations.

Defra conducted an assessment of UK ship recycling facilities in 2015 as part of the preparation of a public consultation on the UK’s implementation of European Union Regulation 1257/2013 on ship recycling. Defra wrote to all of the UK ship recycling facilities that held valid permits and approvals required under existing legislation to undertake ship recycling activities in the UK at that time to make them aware of the new EU Ship Recycling Regulation and to discuss compliance with its requirements. A total of 18 suitably authorised facilities were identified.

Defra has made no assessment of the global demand for, and value of, ship recycling facilities. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a report on ship recycling in April 2019 which includes an assessment of the global market for ship recycling. It is available on the OECD iLibrary website (www.oecd-ilibrary.org).