Hosco boss calls for acceleration of ship scrapping
Gao Yanming, chairman of Hebei Ocean Shipping Corporation (Hosco), has sent a letter to Ministry of Transport to call for more policy support to increase the volumes of old local ships being scrapped as well as to improve the level of Port State Control (PSC), SinoShipNews reports.
“China should accelerate phasing out old vessels to promote the restructuring of the shipping industry,” Gao said in the letter.
The government should release policies to encourage scrapping old vessels, for example, exempting income tax on scrapping vessels for a certain period, Gao reckons. Also, the ministry should lower the mandatory scrapping age of vessels, Gao said.
Currently the mandatory scrapping age of tankers, bulkers and boxships in China is 31 years, 33 years and 34 years respectively which makes China among the countries with the highest ship ages. Gao, one of the shipping industry’s most vocal champions of scrapping during the downturn, has suggested the scrapping age of bulkers and boxships should be lowered to 27 years, and tankers to 25 years.
In the meantime, Gao, in what might be viewed in international circles as a proctectionist move, has also suggested the government should have stricter regulations on foreign vessels with ages of more than 20 years entering inland rivers and seas to protect the safety and environment of Yangtze River, Pearl River and Bohai Sea.
