Listen

Ship Recycling

... min read

Maritime transport accounts for approximately 80% of international trade, according to 2020 data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. ING is a major financier of the shipping industry.

ING encourages clients in the shipping sector to adopt responsible vessel recycling and dismantling practices. To start with, our policy doesn’t permit the financing of ‘recycling yards’ or buyers of scrap vessels. ING seeks to finance leading and reputable shipping companies that follow a responsible vessel recycling and dismantling policy.

In addition, we require clients to have an Inventory of Hazardous Materials on board all ships financed by ING. We also, wherever possible, seek to document customers’ obligations within the loan documentation. For example, the company that owns the ship(s) ING finances must ensure that the ship is recycled by an approved yard under the EU Shipping Recycling Regulation or according to the Honk Kong Ship Recycling Convention.

In 2017 ING, together with ABN AMRO and NIBC, introduced the Responsible Ship Recycling Standards (RSRS) for ship financing and called on other financial institutions to unite and apply the standards. As of the first quarter of 2022, there were 13 financial institutions that joined the RSRS initiative.

In 2019, ING was one of the founding signatories of the Poseidon Principles, the first sector-specific climate alignment initiative for financial institutions. By the end of 2021, 28 signatories committed to the Poseidon Principles and represent over 50% of the global ship finance book. Poseidon-Principles-Annual-Disclosure-Report-2021.pdf (poseidonprinciples.org).

ING has a consistent approach to shipping, focusing on companies with a strong management team and a proven track record; transparent corporate structure and reporting criteria; healthy financial position and ability to meet obligations through the economic cycle; and modern fleet with an emphasis on minimising the environmental impact for the entire vessel lifecycle.


Contact

Mail to: Sustainability@ing.com

Back to top