Regulation to recycle ships had not been successful. The Commission, unable to wait for the HKC to take effect, began developing new legislation to regulate the recycling of European-flagged ships. This led the European Commission in 2012 to propose the development of a new European Regulation on Ship Recycling. The Hong Kong Convention To overcome the difficulties of the Basel Convention in terms of the inordinate time and effort required in gaining the consent of all countries involved in its due time, and to highlight regulations that this convention left out, its governing body requested the International Maritime Organisation for a newer convention in 2004. Thus, the Hong Kong Convention came into existence. In essence, the Convention aims to ensure that ships, when being recycled after reaching the end of their operational lives, do not pose any unnecessary risks to human health, safety and the environment. The convention covers regulations including: the design, construction, operation and preparation of ships to facilitate safe and environmentally sound recycling, without compromising the safety and operational efficiency of ships; the operation of ship recycling facilities in a safe and environmentally sound manner; and the establishment of an appropriate enforcement mechanism for ship recycling (certification/reporting requirements). With much more sound standards of ship recycling, easier implementation and better supervision, the Hong Kong Convention was finally adopted in 2009. However, the Convention will only come into universal force 24 months after the date on which the following conditions are met: ratification or accession by 15 States, the fleet of the States that have ratified or acceded to represent at least 40 percent of world merchant shipping by gross tonnage, and the combined maximum annual ship recycling volume of the States during the preceding 10 years to constitute not less than 3 percent of the gross tonnage of the combined merchant shipping of the same States. As of 30 November 2021, 17 countries have acceded to the HKC, making up 29.77% of the world's merchant shipping by gross tonnage, with a combined maximum annual ship recycling volume of the States at 2.6% of the gross tonnage of the combined merchant shipping of the same States. This leaves the second and third conditions yet to be fulfilled for the HKC to enter into force. Nearly 96 of India's 120 operational ship recycling yards have achieved Statements of Compliance (SoC) with the Hong Kong Convention by various IACS class