Ship breaking

Ship breaking in Bangladesh

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of recycling involving the breaking up of ships for scrap. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is too much wear to make refit and repair practical. Ship breaking allows for materials from the ship, especially steel, to be given a new life in a new vessel. A ship that has been scrapped is sometimes colloquially said to have been "made into razor blades."

History and transition

Until the late twentieth century, ship breaking took place in port cities in the "First World," including the United States. Today, however, most ship breaking yards are in developing nations, principally Bangladesh, China, and India, due to lower labor costs and less stringent environmental regulations dealing with the disposal of lead paint and other toxic substances. Few "breakers" remain in the United States. In addition to steel and other useful materials, however, ships (particularly older vessels) can contain many substances now banned or considered dangerous. Asbestos is a typical example of this type of substance. Asbestos was used heavily in the shipping world until it was finally banned in most of the developed world in the mid 1980s. Currently, the costs associated with removing asbestos, along with the potentially expensive insurance and health risks, have meant that ship-breaking in much of the western world is no longer economically viable. Removing the metal for scrap can potentially cost more than the scrap value of the metal itself. In the developing world, however, shipyards can operate without the risk of personal injury lawsuits or workers' health claims, meaning many of these shipyards may operate with high health risks. Protective equipment is sometimes absent or inadequate. Dangerous vapors and fumes from burning materials can be inhaled and dusty asbestos-laden areas are commonplace.

Environmental considerations

Aside from the health of the yard workers, in recent years, ship breaking has also become an issue of major environmental concern. Many ship breaking yards in developing nations have lax or no environmental law, enabling large quantities of highly toxic materials to escape into the environment and causing serious health problems among wildlife, shipbreakers and the local population. Environmental campaign groups such as Greenpeace have made the issue a high priority for their campaigns. ^[1] As an alternative to ship breaking, many ships are also sunk to make artificial reefs after being cleaned up.

See also

• Alang
• Chittagong
• Gaddani

References

1. ^ Shipbreaking. Greenpeace (March 16, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-08-27.

Further reading

• Langewiesche, William (2004). The Outlaw Sea: Chaos and Crime on the World's Oceans. London: Granta Books. ISBN 0865475814.  Contains an extensive section on the shipbreaking industry in India and Bangladesh.
• Buxton, Ian L. (1992). Metal Industries: shipbreaking at Rosyth and Charlestown. World Ship Society, 104. OCLC 28508051.  Ships scrapped include Mauretania and much of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow. Ships listed with owners and dates sold.

External links

• End of the Line, photo essay on the ship breaking yards of Chittagong, Bangladesh by Brendan Corr
• Overhead images of Alang Ship Breaking Yards
• 1998 Pulitzer prize winning Baltimore Sun investigative reporting series on the shipbreaking industry in Alang
• NPR host Alex Chadwick talks with Will Englund of the Baltimore Sun
• ILO publication on shipbreaking
• Photo essay about the last voyage, demolition, and recycling of an American merchant ship in Chittagong, Bangladesh by Claudio Cambon
• One traveler's account of visiting the shipbreaking yards of Chittagong
• Survey of Shipbreaking workers in India
• Ship Breaking Activities and its Impact on the Coastal Zone of Chittagong, Bangladesh: Towards Sustainable Management, Dr. Md. M. Maruf Hossain and Mohammad Mahmudul Islam, Advocacy & Publication Unit, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA)
• Shipbreakers of Chittagong - a Photo story by London-based photographer Jiri Rezac