Ship breaking

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 so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomic. Ship breaking allows for materials from the ship, especially steel, to be given a new life in a new vessel.

History and transition

Until the late twentieth century, ship breaking took place in port cities of industrialized countries such as Great Britain and the United States. Today, most ship breaking yards are in other nations, principally Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India, due to lower labor costs and less stringent environmental regulations dealing with the disposal of lead paint and other toxic substances. Some "breakers" still remain in the United States. There are also some in Dubai, UAE for tankers.

A ship that has been scrapped is sometimes colloquially said to have been "made into razor blades."

Health and environmental risks

In addition to steel and other useful materials, however, ships (particularly older vessels) can contain many substances that are banned or considered dangerous in developed countries. Asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are typical examples. Asbestos was used heavily in ship construction 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 most developed countries 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.

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 shipbreakers, the local population and wildlife. Environmental campaign groups such as Greenpeace have made the issue a high priority for their campaigns. [cite web|url=http://www.greenpeaceweb.org/shipbreak/|title=Shipbreaking|publisher=Greenpeace|date=March 16, 2006|accessdate=2007-08-27]

As an alternative to ship breaking, many ships are also sunk to make artificial reefs after being cleaned up.

ee also

*Wrecking (shipwreck)
*Alang
*Chittagong
*Gaddani
*Sitakunda Upazila
*Ship decommissioning
*Clemenceau disposal controversy
*Shipbreakers (film)

References

Further reading

*cite book |last=Langewiesche |first=William |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The Outlaw Sea: Chaos and Crime on the World's Oceans |year=2004 |publisher=Granta Books |location=London |isbn=0865475814 Contains an extensive section on the shipbreaking industry in India and Bangladesh.

*cite book |last=Buxton |first=Ian L. |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Metal Industries: shipbreaking at Rosyth and Charlestown |year=1992 |publisher=World Ship Society |location= |pages=104 |oclc=28508051 Ships scrapped include Mauretania and much of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow. Ships listed with owners and dates sold.

*cite book |last=Buerk |first=Roland |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Breaking Ships: How supertankers and cargo ships are dismantled on the shores of Bangladesh |year=2006 |publisher=Chamberlain brothers |location= |pages=192 |isbn=1596090367 Breaking Ships follows the demise of the Asian Tiger, a ship destroyed at one of the twenty ship-breaking yards along the beaches of Chittagong. BBC Bangladesh correspondent Roland Buerk takes us through the process-from beaching the vessel to its final dissemination, from wealthy shipyard owners to poverty-stricken ship cutters, and from the economic benefits for Bangladesh to the pollution of its once pristine beaches.

*cite web |url=http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/papers/shpbreak/index.htm |title=Is there a decent way to break up ships? |accessdate=2007-05-29 |last=Bailey |first=Paul J. |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year=2000 |month= |format= |work=Sectoral Activities Programme |publisher=International Labour Organization |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=

External links

* [http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3349 End of the Line] , photo essay on the ship breaking yards of Chittagong, Bangladesh by Brendan Corr
* [http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/id/5174/India//Talaja/Alang_Ship_Breaking_Yards Overhead images of Alang Ship Breaking Yards]
* [http://www.pulitzer.org/year/1998/investigative-reporting/works/day3/1.html 1998 Pulitzer prize winning Baltimore Sun investigative reporting series on the shipbreaking industry in Alang]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1027384 NPR host Alex Chadwick talks with Will Englund of the Baltimore Sun]
* [http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/papers/shpbreak/ ILO publication on shipbreaking]
* [http://www.claudiocambon.com Photo essay about the last voyage, demolition, and recycling of an American merchant ship in Chittagong, Bangladesh] by Claudio Cambon
* [http://www.imfmetal.org/main/files/06042810465779/Shipbreaking_survey.pdf Survey of Shipbreaking workers in India]
* [http://ypsa.org/publications/Impact.pdf 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)
* [http://www.jirirezac.com/stories/shipbreakers Shipbreakers of Chittagong] - a Photo story by London-based photographer Jiri Rezac
* [http://www.greenpeace.org/international/photosvideos/photos/a-partly-scrapped-hulk-of-a-ta Greenpeace commentary]