The Hong Kong convention, EU regulation and outstanding legal issues in various states.

With the accessions of Bangladesh and Liberia as contract parties, the Hong Kong Convention ("HKC") will enter into force in 2025. The HKC applies to ships flying the flag of a contract party and ship recycling facilities ("SRFs") under the jurisdiction of a contract party. Bangladesh, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Japan, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Portugal and Turkey are among the contract parties to the HKC.

The EU had already taken on a pioneering role with the EU Ship Recycling Regulation ("SR Regulation") in 2013. Among...