Maritime glossary · Demolition
Ship Recycling
The dismantling of an end-of-life vessel to recover steel and equipment, also called demolition or scrapping.
Definition
Ship recycling, demolition, or scrapping is the end of a vessel’s life, when it is dismantled to recover steel and equipment. Most recycling happens at yards in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Turkey, with the ships sold to cash buyers who deliver them to the beach or pier. Demolition is priced per tonne of lightship steel (USD per LDT). The Hong Kong Convention and the EU Ship Recycling Regulation set standards for safe and clean recycling.
How Vessel Hunter uses Ship Recycling
Older, slow, idle, or repeatedly detained tonnage often signals a recycling candidate. Vessel Hunter surfaces the markers so the cash-buyer and service chain can act.
Related terms
- LightshipLightweight
The weight of a vessel with no cargo, fuel, ballast, stores, or crew aboard.
- Sale and PurchaseS&P
The market in which existing secondhand ships are bought and sold, distinct from chartering.
- MARPOLMarine Pollution Convention
The IMO convention preventing pollution from ships: oil, chemicals, garbage, sewage, air emissions, sulphur.
The bigger picture
Ship Recycling is one piece of the commercial maritime picture Vessel Hunter pulls together for shipyards, suppliers, service providers, and port agents. Every vessel record bundles AIS, ownership, inspections, dry-dock history, casualty record, classification status, and a verified contact for the operator decision-maker behind the ship, so the team that reaches out first wins the work.
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