Key stakeholders related to ship recycling in Bangladesh convened on 16 July 2025 to review a proposal for a fourth phase of the SENSREC project which would potentially kick off when phase 3 concludes in December 2025. The meeting, held at the Bangladesh Ministry of Industries (MoI) in Dhaka, marked a significant step toward ensuring the continuation of capacity development supporting policy alignment and the strengthening of institutional mechanisms in the country’s ship recycling industry.

The session brought together a cross-section of officials led by the Secretary of the Ministry of Industries, Mr. Md Obaidur Rahman; plus the Additional Secretary in MoI, Mr. Rashidul Hassan; Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ms. Israt Jahan Keya; Senior Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ms. Sabrina Rahman; and the Director General of the Bangladesh Ship Recycling Board (BSRB), Mr. ASM Shafiul Alam Talukder.

The SENSREC Bangladesh project, which is funded by the Government of Norway, has in its third phase focussed on the provision of technical assistance for the establishment of Treatment Storage and Disposal Facilities (TSDF) in the ship recycling region of Chattogram and the development of national legislation in line with the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) which recently came into force in June 2025. Further cooperation would support implementation of HKC to ensure environmental protection, occupational health and safety and adherence to global safety standards.

Also present at the session were Mr. Morshed Ahmed, Senior Adviser at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka; representatives of the International Labour Organization (ILO); IMO’s SENSREC project and the Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association (BSBRA).

The meeting marked the end of the stakeholder consultation process for identifying the remaining needs and challenges that could be addressed by phase 4 of the SENSREC Bangladesh project. The next step will be the development of a project document to capture the content of this series of discussions and formalise an extended project’s objectives and outcomes.