In the early 1970s shipbreaking was a highly mechanized industrial operation carried out in the shipyards of Great Britain, Taiwan, Mexico, Spain and Brazil. But as the cost of upholding environmental, health and safety standards in developed countries has risen, shipbreaking has increasingly shifted to poorer Asian states. To maximum profits, ship owners send their vessels to the scrap yards of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, the Philippines and Vietnam, where health and safety standards are virtually ignored and the workers are desperate for jobs.
Toxic wastes cover the yards in Alang, Gujarat.
Workers amidst the toxic wastes at the ship breaking yard in Alang, Gujarat.
Most ships being dismantled today were built in the 1970s, prior to the banning of many hazardous substances. Large amount of asbestos were used, paints containing cadmium, lead oxide and zinc chromate anti-corrosives, as well as antifouling paints containing mercury and arsenic. Ships also contain a wide range of other hazardous wastes like PCB, tributyl tin and several thousand liters of oil. Tankers additionally hold up to 1.000 cubic meters of residual oil. In Europe, these materials are subject to special monitoring and highly regulated disposal. Most of these materials are already defined as hazardous waste under the Basel Convention. On the open beaches of Chittagong, old ships containing these materials are being cut up by hand under inhuman working conditions.
Bangladesh is heavily dependent on the shipbreaking industry for its domestic requirement of steel and does not enforce any restrictions on the industry for environmental and worker’s safety. There is no monitoring body equipped to enforce basic environmental safety norms or to ensure protection for about 30.000 workers directly involved in the shipbreaking.
Chittagong is today the second biggest arena for the industry, next to Alang in India. The yard mainly caters to large single deck oil tankers, which is generally avoided by Indian ship breakers due to restrictions imposed by Indian authorities.
Though it is difficult to obtain accurate data, the number of accidents and casualties at the Chittagong yard is believed to be the highest in the region. A coastal belt of about 20 km north of Chittagong where the ships are dismantled is highly polluted with numerous oil spills. Most fisher folks of the region have changed their profession and have either migrated or found an alternative occupation in and around the yard.
Who is responsible?
“There is no use talking about the problems concerning the shipbreaking industry. This country has two enormous tasks demanding all available resources; democracy building and combating poverty.”
-Chittagong journalist.
No effort should be spared in improving the conditions surrounding the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh. At the same time, the workers relaying on the industry for a livelihood must be given a chance to continue making a living. In the long term, minimum standards on environmental and labor conditions in the shipbreaking industry will hopefully be enforced through the United Nation’s maritime organization, IMO. But who will pay for the cost of improved labor conditions and the environmental effort? Who is responsible? Is it, the ship breakers, the shipbuilders, the ship owners or the government?
We are facing a large increase in the number of ships that are due for scrapping. Presently, some 700 ships are taken out of service every year. The annual tonnage due for scrapping is expected to double by the year 2005. Consequently, it is important to address these problems as soon as possible. Given the current situation, a rise in the scrapping of ships means an increase in the problems connected to environmental soilation and labor exploitation in countries like Bangladesh.
Courtesy: http://www.drik.net/rune/shipbreaking.htm
