Determining the effects of implementing IMO’s Hong Kong Convention’s requirements on the productivity of a ship recycling yard by using discrete event simulation

Abstract

It is economically unfeasible to operate an outdated vessel. Therefore, when the costs associated with operating such vessels exceed the potential gains, shipowners tend to stop operating these vessels. Several options are available for end-of-life vessels, but recycling is considered a sustainable and preferable solution compared to abandoning or sinking them.Generally, these ships are sent to ship recycling yards located in developing countries.However, the health, safety, and environmental conditions in these yards cause much concern for the international community. As a result, new international regulations will be implemented to regulate ship recycling globally, and ship recycling yards need to improve their effectiveness to remain competitive and profitable. This paper proposes to develop a framework for ship recycling yard to more fully understand problems relating to resource optimisation and the gap between current regulations and the existing yards. The framework employs discrete event simulation to create the evidence and optimize the efficiency activities in ship recycling.Therefore, a case study was designed and conducted to validate the framework mentioned above. This study successfully demonstrates that the framework can effectively identify problems in ship recycling yards, propose improvement measures, and conduct resource optimization. It is expected that evidence created from this framework can support yard owners when they are making investment decisions to improve their yards.