Leviathan, German Naval Yards aim to be the powerhouse of EU green ship recycling

Germany-based green ship recycling centre Leviathan will collaborate with local shipyard German Naval Yards on facilitating green and sustainable ship recycling.

The cooperation was announced during the presentation at Ship Recycling Lab being held in Rotterdam from 20 to 21 September.

The companies have signed a letter of intent to join their forces to be “the powerhouse of European green ship recycling“.

The technology developed by Leviathan can now be offered to shipowners in a dock of 426x88m, supported by infrastructure and workforce of German Naval Yards.

The duo expects this cooperation to be game-changing within the ship recycling market, making the first sustainable and almost emission-free ship recycling worldwide possible by using cold water cutting technology.

First ships are expected to be accepted for green recycling in Kiel soon. The initial proof of concept was validated on the first recycling project.

Leviathan’s robot-assisted cold water cutting technology is further developed and enhanced. After this success, scale-up and recycling according to EU-Reg. 1257 (SRR) and Hong-Kong Convention are the next steps.

“Now our vision of automated, people- and environmental-friendly ship recycling is becoming a reality. At the same time, we are securing important steel as a raw material for European steel production, assisting European steelmakers to reduce their carbon footprint,” Simeon Hiertz, Founder & Managing Partner of Leviathan, said.

“The cooperation between our companies marks a milestone in the ship recycling industry. Together with Leviathan we are proud to contribute to achieving a more sustainable circular economy in the maritime industry,” Rino Brugge, CEO of German Naval Yards, commented.

The process of green ship recycling developed by Leviathan is said to be key for a truly circular economy in the European steel industry. By using green-produced steel scrap the steel industry can save 1.6 Tonnes CO2 for each produced ton of new steel.