Influence of ship design on ship recycling

Ship recycling marks the end of the life cycle of a ship. The underlying principle of recycling activity is to support sustainable development of the environment by recycling every year, on an average, as much as 3.6 million tonnes of steel scrap globally. Despite the importance of the ship recycling industry to major recycling countries, it has always been plagued with health, safety and environmental concerns. Such concerns, to some extent, arise due to inappropriate ship design. This paper explains that a detailed study of the ship recycling process can give feedback to the design stage of the life cycle of a ship. A link between the first and last stage of the life cycle of a ship would allow not only the effective disposal of hazardous materials and reduction of recycling costs but also the improvement of ship designs pertaining to the needs and requirements of the end user i.e. ship recycling yards.