On the night between January 13th and 14th, 2012, the cruise ship Costa Concordia struck a group of rocks near Isola del Giglio (Italy), causing a breach approximately 35 meters long on the port side, which led to the ship listing, running aground, and partially submerging. The incident, which resulted in the death of 32 people (both passengers and crew), is considered one of the most serious maritime disasters of the modern era. In addition to the ensuing criminal and civil proceedings aimed at establishing liabilities and determining compensations, the case became a landmark in the field of ship recycling.
In July 2014, the ship was first rotated and refloated (the so-called parbuckling operation) and then towed to the Port of Genoa, specifically to the Pra' terminal, for the first phase of dismantling. This phase was carried out by the Ship Recycling Consortium, composed of the Genoese shipyard San Giorgio del Porto and Saipem. In May 2015, the ship was moved to the former Superbacino area for final demolition, also performed by the same Consortium, which concluded in July 2017.
The complex operation lasted 22 months, involving hundreds of workers and over 50 companies. Of the 65,000 tons of materials recovered from the dismantling of the ship, about 86% were sent for recycling.
It is worth noting that this operation, in which our firm assisted the Genoese shipyard, took place in a complex and partly uncertain regulatory framework. At the time, the main international and European legal instruments—now fully in force and operational—were already adopted but not yet widely implemented in practice. These included:
- The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (2009)
- EU Regulation No. 1257/2013 on Ship Recycling
The dismantling process required a harmonized coordination of these emerging international standards with:
- Local administrative regulations on waste management and environmental protection, particularly the Italian Environmental Code (Legislative Decree No. 152/2006)
- Existing EU regulations
- The private contractual needs of the parties responsible for the dismantling—namely, the Shipowner and the Consortium—all under the supervision of the relevant authorities.
By Resolution of the Council of Ministers dated March 11, 2013, it was established that "The Concordia is to be scrapped and, as such, qualifies as waste under Directive 2008/98/EC and Regulation (EC) No. 1013/2006."
The Integrated Environmental Authorization No. 2932 of July 17, 2014 described the recycling facility and the production cycle in line with the two main legal instruments governing ship recycling: the Hong Kong Convention of 2009 (which would only enter into force on June 26, 2025) and EU Regulation No. 1257/2013, in force since December 30, 2013, with phased implementation as per its Article 32.
To regulate their respective obligations, the Shipowner and the Consortium signed a ship recycling contract, using an adapted and modified version of the BIMCO Recyclecon form, designed for the sale of ships destined for safe and environmentally responsible recycling. The 2012 edition of the form already incorporated several references to the Hong Kong Convention, including the requirement for an Inventory of Hazardous Materials and the preparation of a Ship Recycling Plan. The form was then further amended to reflect the specific commercial agreements between the parties and to align with the regulatory framework described above.
