Fire at Gadani as Tanker Scrapping Resumes

Three months after authorities gave the green light for tanker beachings to resume at Gadani, Pakistan, another fire broke out aboard a decomissioned VLCC, trapping several workers inside the burning hull.

Local sources report that the fire broke out during demolition work. 20 laborers were rescued, but four are believed to be trapped within the vessel.  National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) leader Nasir Mansoor said in a social media update that 100 workers were at the site at the time of the incident.

Gadani's shipbreakers have experienced multiple fires resulting in loss of life in recent years. These incidents included a fuel tank explosion aboard the FPSO Aces in November 2016, which killed at least 26 workers and wounded 58, and a second fire aboard the same vessel in November 2017. Separately, a fire broke out on an unnamed LPG carrier in December 2016, and then a second time in January 2017, with five fatalities and an unknown number of missing workers during the second incident. The deadly blazes resulted in a temporary ban on tanker scrapping at Gadani, which was lifted in April 2018.

Labor rights advocates assert that shipbreaking is Pakistan's deadliest industry, with little regulation and inhumane working conditions. "Even jungles would have some laws, but there are none here," alleged Mansoor, in comments to Pakistan's Express Tribune.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund recently excluded four shipowners from its portfolio for selling end-of-life vessels to Pakistani and Bangladeshi shipbreakers, citing a pattern of "severe environmental damage and serious or systematic violations of human rights." Demolition brokerage GMS contests this characterization and asserts that the industry is making improvements, especially at yards that are pursuing certification to Hong Kong Convention ship recycling standards.

Source: maritime-executive. 16 July 2018

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/fire-at-gadani-as-tanker-scrapping-resumes#gs.gd4WjVk

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 9 of 2013:

The shock news that end buyers could be faced with a 5% increase in taxes on incoming vessels bought the industry in Pakistan shuddering to a halt this week. Talks on anv new purchases were shelved bv an understandably concerned set of end buyers.

With most eves on the Indian budget and how that would affect their sentiment pricing, this latest piece of news has come as a bolt from the blue and could end up being a real setback to a sector which had only recently gained some decent momentum.

Some time will have to be taken out to fully understand where and how these new taxes are to be implemented and what exactly the fine print is before any knee jerk reactions are made. But, for the time being, all SNP activity has been placed on hold.

Making matters worse, a devastating blast rocked Karachi once again on the weekend, killing almost 50 people in the latest act of insurgency that has been afflicting the country in recent times.

Source: steelguru. 5 March 2013

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_9/304232.html

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 7 of 2013:

Pakistan looked to take advantage this week of the dire circumstances in India (where very few end buyers were even offering hoping to see a more settled market than that of today) by concluding a few candidates that mav otherwise have been destined for Alang shores.

The 31 vears old panamax bulker HAYDAR (11,796 LDT) from Turkish owners achieved a strong USD 430 per LT LDT with 400 T bunkers remaining on board. Meanwhile the fire damaged undertow bulker RENOS (9,050 LDT) achieved a comparatively modest, vet firm LJSD 391 per LT LDT in comparison.

The tendency still exists though in Gadani to follow closely the movements (both up and down) of their Indian counterparts rather than taking a definitive lead and striking out to secure the majority of the market tonnage out there. So if the slide in India continues it will remain to be seen if the ongoing purchases do get performed at the time of the vessels arrival at Gadani.

Source: Steelguru. 19 February 2013.

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_7/302346.html

Where the voyage ends:

It’s 10.00am. The signal bars on your cell phone screen play hide and seek, the car’s FM radio has been dead for a while with the clanging and banging on iron being the only sounds that reach your ears as you make the bumpy ride towards the shipyards in Gadani.

You suddenly swerve to one side of the road as a truck with a ship’s massive plumbing passes by you. The rusting steel is still hot and steaming from the cutting torch. From the heavy loads being carried on the roads atop trucks, the condition of the road surface is hardly a surprise.

You also cross several small wooden roadside tea stalls with workers in greasy overalls, and protective wielding goggles pulled over their heads or hanging around their necks sipping a cup of tea or a enjoying a humble meal, if the place offers that too.

The stalls are all made of wood scraps from ships. Some doors also have a pothole where there must have been a brass or aluminium window at some point in time before they were used in the stalls. An Iranian and Saudi Arabian flag laid out as shade above a bench or fluttering about on a rickety crooked pole near a tandoor are some of the other remnants put to use.

The oil and rust has turned the soil at the shipyards a deep shade of brown but the water is crystal clear with many seashells washed up on the beach. “We are not into spreading pollution. We are only into ship breaking,” says Dewan Rizwan Farooqui, chairman of the Pakistan Ship Breaker’s Association, who adds that the ships arriving at Gadani have to have a certificate saying that they are free of oil and gas from the port they were last at.

A few workers aboard immediately cut out windows from inside the vessel to allow light inside the hull.

Among the countries involved in shipbreaking, Pakistan stands second only to China. It is doing far better than India, Bangladesh and Turkey. Gadani breaks some 100 ships, be they oil tankers, cargo vessels or luxury cruise liners, having spent some 20 to 25 years in service after which it is more feasible to break it down than repair it. Everything from a little nail to big metal sheets and girdles, can be sold. Thus a 20,000-tonne ship is brought down in around 90 days.

Ship breaking in Gadani began in 1973. The shipbreaking industry saw its peak during the late 1980s and early 1990s in the absence of competitors such as India and Bangladesh. Today China, too, known better for building ships earlier, is breaking them. They have also made plenty of dry docks for the purpose. Meanwhile, Gadani is also more suitable for the purpose than Karachi, where the breaking was done earlier due to its sandy beaches and the water level which is deep near the beaches making it easier for the ships to float as close by as possible. In comparison the beaches in India and Bangladesh are wet and muddy.

Still the business in Pakistan experienced a nosedive between 2002 and 2007 when the international market prices were just too high. It was only in 2008 that the international costs turned around and things started looking up again.

Speaking for all the shipbreakers in the country, the chairman of their association says that they pay around five billion in taxes every year but are not even provided clean drinking water, electricity or good phone service.

The steel from a ship is solid and does not readily rust after it has been sent to factories in Karachi to be re-rolled. Earlier, there were more re-rolling and melting factories in Karachi but now with the breaking down only in Gadani, more of these are coming up in Quetta and Hub besides many more in Punjab as well.

The Pakistan Steel Mill and other foundries, meanwhile, serve as their competitors as they import ore for steel which takes up a major chunk of the country’s foreign exchange.

Source: The Dawn. 6 January 2013

http://dawn.com/2013/01/06/where-the-voyage-ends/

GMS report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 50 of 2012:

Pakistan established themselves this week as firmly ahead of their Indian competitors with a greater aggression to buy at better numbers.

Indeed, the Danish built, ABS class, full spares panamax bulker 05TSEE MERCHANT considered to be a prime Indian candidate was surprisingly concluded to Gadani buyers for a highly impressive USD 410 per LT LDT.

With a paucity of tankers currently on the market and a lack of overall demand for container vessels, reefers and other general cargo/MPP types, Pakistan buyers have to switch their focus back to bulkers. With a less volatile currency and steel market than India, firm Gadani buyers seem able to outbid their Indian counterparts on desired tonnage at present.

Market sales reported –

VESSEL NAME	TYPE	LDT	REPORTED PRICE
OSTSEE MERCHANT	Bulker	12,926	USD 410/LT LDT

Source: Steel Guru. 18 December 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_50_2012/295530.html

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 46 of 2012:

With the ongoing Indian slowdown, Pakistan quickly re adjusted their numbers with demand slowing since the number of recent high priced and high LDT tonnage concluded.

There is still demand for one or two of the larger units, particularly VLCCs and suezmax tankers but little in the way of material sales concluded to speak of.

As India opens up post Diwali in the coming week it may be that we see a return to form for Pakistan buyers or perhaps a period of digestion until the next round to buy comes about.

Source: Steel Guru. 20 November 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_46/292266.html

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 45 of 2012:

Pakistan following hot on the heels of their Indian neighbors suffered a slowdown in both sentiment and levels this week after the spate of activity that had seen them pick up a number of VLCCs and larger tankers and bulkers last month.

Very rarely the market to set the pace, Gadani recyclers were not suffering from the crippling currency fluctuations and steel price reversals that have beset the Indian market for so long, but in terms of steady supply and a lack of demand / capacity, the telltale signs are starting to show.

With Indian buyers away on Diwali holidays for the week and Eid having recently ended in Pakistan, this could be the ideal time for Pakistani buyers to pick up a few vessels, if only they would show the intent and initiative.

Source: steel guru. 15 November 2012.

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_45/291648.html

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 42 of 2012:

As deliveries and beachings continued at pace in Pakistan, Gadani buyers saw the majority of the market sales concluded to Indian buyers.

Many of the deals may have a Pakistan option included but firmer prices in India coupled with a greater capacity (after sitting quietly on the sidelines during the currency crisis early in the year) means that most of the vessels concluded will most likely be heading to India.

Pakistan buyers are still competitive for the right units but an overall lack of their preferred tankers has seen them having to diversify in recent times and take their share of larger capesize and panamax high LDT bulkers.

Source: Steel Guru. 23 October 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_42/288733.html

GMS report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 41 of 2012:

Amidst some hugely competitive numbers from their Indian neighbors, Gadani buyers had to be at their best this week to secure any tonnage.

With several buyers open tor larger tonnages on otter it was no surprise to see the 22,851 LDT bulker, WELMOUNTAIN sold for a strong price region USD 415 per LT LDT.

Deliveries and beachings continue at pace in Gadani as well with local buyers very much sharing the present burden of vessels nicety with India at a time when Bangladesh very much remain on the sidelines.

Source: Steel Guru. 16 October 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_41/287812.html

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 33 of 2012:

As the Indian resurgence pushed on, Pakistan struggled to keep up with the prices and activities of their neighbors. As a result no market sales were reported this week.

Meanwhile, a majority of the high profile purchases of the recent past have all but been delivered to Pakistani buyers. Levels will certainly have to improve in the coming week just to compete with India and many more vessels may shortly be heading the way of India and Pakistan with China out of the running and Bangladesh reaching capacity.

Source: Steel Guru. 22 August 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_33_2012/279688.html

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 31 of 2012:

Pakistan buyers were again starting to display their ability and willingness to bid on the larger tonnage.

A number of vessels including suezmax tankers and VLCCs were being put to hungry Gadani end buyers who seemed keen to step up to the mark as prices in competing Bangladeshi and Indian markets also showed signs of improving.

Whether recent speculative cash buyer purchases can drag the market up though remains to be seen and is a considerable cause for concern in some quarters given the underwhelming local fundamentals.

Previously concluded vessels and cash buyer 'as is' tonnage proved largely to satisfy the Gadani appetite to acquire explaining the lack of market vessels on display below.

Source: Steel Guru. 8 August 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_31_2012/277418.html

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 30 of 2012:

With India still struggling under the weight of currency fluctuations and scrap steel price reversals, the Pakistan market was on hand to pick up any excess that came their way especially for geographically positioned vessels.

One tanker, the Glory Shipmanagement owned MT ATLANTIA (9,621 LDT) -discharging in Pakistan was sold for an incredible USD 435 per LT LDT. The strong price on show was due to full spares and good size however it would still be considered highly speculative on today's market with very little sign of imminent improvement in prices due.

A lack of capacity is still visible in Gadani though with, surprisingly, very few buyers prepared to take a chance and strike out at these lower levels on show.

Source: Steel Guru (sourced from GMS Weekly). 1 August 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_30_2012/276322.html

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 29 of 2012:

Following the purchase of two VLCCs gas free for man entry only, the Pakistan market endured a quieter week as the impact of those sales started to sink in.

The APOLLO 16 (34,673 LDT) and the TMT controlled L ELEPHANT (32/198) were committed to buyers last week at levels in and around the low 400s LT LDT.

Meanwhile, there remained specific demand for desired units and as usual, Gadani buyers were there to cherry pick vessels at the same levels or just below what their Indian counterparts were there to offer.

For various reasons geographic location, cheaper D/A fees or simply gas free for man entry only tankers they were hopeful of securing their fair share of units.

Source: Steel Guru (sourced from GMS Weekly). 25 July 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_29_2012/275173.html

Gadani’s shipbreakers decry ban on their convention

The shipbreaking workers of Gadani are peeved over the district administration’s decision to stop them from staging their convention, and at the same time, allowing an ethnic organisation to hold a Jirga in Hub town.

The Ship Breaking Mazdoor Union (SBMU), which is affiliated with the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF), had announced that it was holding the first-ever convention of shipbreaking workers on Sunday in Gadani and informed the relevant district authorities about it through a written application.

According to Bashir Mahmoodani, the SBMU president, the campaign for the convention was in full swing and thousands of posters were put up and pamphlets distributed at the 72 ship-breaking yards spread over the 12km long coast.

He claimed that the ship owners, especially the chairman of their association, aided by powerful contractors, hatched a conspiracy to sabotage the workers’ event.

Mahmoodani said the ship owners and contractors handed over funds to a “paper organisation” in Hub to organise an ethnic-based Jirga on the same day on which the convention was being held in a bid to divide ship-breaking workers on an ethnic and regional basis.

However, he added, after failing to divide the workers on ethnic lines, the ship owners and contractors bribed the district administration and also used their influence in Islamabad and Quetta to have the convention banned.

Nasir Mansoor, the NTUF deputy general secretary, told The News that the Gadani SHO had been harassing union leaders on the behest of the ship owners and contractors.

“The district administration’s double standards can be gauged from the fact that it has allowed an ethnic organisation to hold its Jirga in the very sensitive town of Hub, but didn’t let the workers hold their event.” He added that people were being forced to attend the Jirga.

Mansoor said the district administration had also allowed a religious organisation to stage a public gathering in Hub.

He said the union had received information that the ship owners and contractors were planning to instigate ethnic riots at the Gadani Ship Breaking Yard by attacking the participants of the convention and then pinning the blame on the union leaders.

“They want to ban the union by using these tactics.”

He said to avoid any untoward incident, the SBMU and NTUF had decided in a meeting to postpone the convention.

“There are around 15,000 workers affiliated with the ship-breaking industry in Gadani and their representatives have been demanding basic labourers’ rights for them. The workers have been kept deprived of these rights since the establishment of the Gadani Ship Breaking Yard in 1968.”

Mansoor added that the SBMU and the NTUF have decided to challenge the decision to ban their convention in the Balochistan High Court.

Source: shipbreaking platform. by Qadeer Tanoli. 2 July 2012

http://www.shipbreakingplatform.org/the-news-gadanis-ship-breakers-decry-ban-on-their-convention/

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 28 of 2012:

News of two VLCC sales emerged this week in the local market as Gadani buyers honed in on their favored vessels the larger wet units.

The previously Japanese owned APOLLO 16 (34,673 LDT) was reported sold for a price region USD 370 per LT LDT as is Labuan with the vessel most likely needing to be towed over to Pakistan as she is only clean gas free for man entry.

The TMT controlled L ELEPHANT (32,198) was the other VLCC to head to Pakistan shores for an impressive LTSD 415 per LT LDT. Following the stalled sales from TMT of the IRON MONGER 3 and IRON MONGER 8 last year for demolition the concerned buyers will be hoping this time that the deal actually goes through.

Source: steel guru. 17 July 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_28_2012/273842.html

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 27 of 2012:

A few more enquiries to buy emanated from Gadani buvers this week, but very few material sales were concluded for the week as available tonnage was redirected to stronger competing markets.

A number of tankers have been sold into Pakistan, gas free for man entry only, over previous weeks and this is one area that Gadani buyers have continued to exploit and excel of late.

There were rumors that the full spares Vietnamese owned VSP DIAMOND (11,872 LDT) had been sold for an incredible price close to USD 400 per LT LDT but these were unfounded at the time of writing due to the usual lengthy time for any Seller's BOD to be lifted.

Source: steel guru. 11 July 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_27_2012/272835.html

GMS report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 25 of 2012:

With plenty of vessels to choose from, Pakistan buyers purchased two of their favored tankers gas free for man entrv at some pretty impressive numbers indicative of their standing as perhaps the go to market for wet units currently.

The DHT ANIA despite being an older sale saw an extremely impressive USD 425 per LT LDT with some 400 T bunkers on board 'as is' Singapore. Unless the cash buyer has done a straight back to back deal at the time of negotiating, it is likely that this deal could result in hitting rough waters, considering today's market levels.

The purchase of the Indian owned aframax tanker RATNA URVI for USD 410 per LT LDT less 3% address commission is made doable only by an end buyer that offered slightly over the market and subsequently helped in concluding the unit at an extremely strong price.

Source: Steel Guru (Source - GMS Weekly). 26 June 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_25_2012/270383.html

GMS weekly report on Pakistan shipbreaking industry for WEEK 21 of 2012:

As perhaps the one market to display any sort of interest in vessels post budget, it was no surprise to see a huge swathe of candidates proposed to open buyers who were then able to pick and choose desired units and dictate the price they were willing to pay.

With few overall material changes in the budget of June 1st, other than a reported increase of sales tax by about PKR 1500 per tonne the effects of which were yet to be realized, enquiries for new acquisitions were only posted by those end buyers keen to stock yards.

Notwithstanding, such enquiries were always accompanied by a question and ponderance on the state of the neighboring Indian market.

Rarely ones to set the tempo, Gadani buyers may be trying to take advantage of the current predicaments in competing markets and will certainly be looking to pick up a bargain or two at the same levels or even a touch below India.

Source: Steel Guru. 12 June 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_23_2012/268180.html

Call to safeguard rights of shipbreaking workers:

KARACHI: National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) Pakistan on Thursday organised a seminar entitled “Boom in Ship Breaking Industry & Denial of Basic Labour Rights” at a local hotel to highlight the injustice being done against ship breaking yards’ workers.

Pointing out the injustice with workers, the speakers said that shipbreaking yard owners in Gaddani had been earning hefty profits each month but thousands of workers who made it possible because of their skills were yet forced to work and live like slaves.

On behalf of the workers, they demanded a 50% increase in wages, registration of all workers with social security and permission to form union and bargain collectively. Labour leaders said that billions of rupees were earned in profit in this thriving business but workers were deprived of all basic human and labourer rights as envisaged in the labour laws as well as the constitution.

They said majority of them work in very vulnerable conditions without any safety check with low wages and no medical facility, proper residential quarter or drinking water. Workers are being treated just like animals and not even a single one of them has been given an appointment letter. Contractors (Jamadars) act like ‘masters’ who enjoy full support of local police and administration while labour departments are least bother about the well being and better working conditions of the workers, they added.

On the occasion, they unanimously demanded that the right to form union be immediately restored, wages be increased by 50%, all workers be registered with Social Security and Employees Old Age Benefits Institution, safety at work place be ensured, medical hospital with all basic facilities be established, canteen with hygienic food be provided at subsidised rates, school and labour residential colony with water supply and sewerage system be provided and all federal, provincial and international labour laws be observed in letter and spirit.

Talking about the operations at breaking yard, they said that more than 60 big and small ships typically anchor at different Gaddani shipbreaking yards for dismantlement and nearly 15,000 workers directly or indirectly, were engaged in the process.

A minute of silence was also observed in respect of the martyrs of 22 May carnage in Karachi and a resolution condemning the fascist/racist arm gangs’ sinister designs against the working class to divide them on ethnic and lingual basis was passed. The seminar also strongly condemned the demand of Muhajir province and declared that working class stood for national and historical integrity and oneness of Sindh at all costs.

NTUF President Mohammed Rafiq Baloch presided over the seminar, while Habibuddin Junaidi Chairman of All Pakistan Trade Union Organisation, National Trade Union Federation Deputy General Secretary Nasir Mansoor, Farid Awan General Secretary of Pakistan Workers Confederation Sindh, Bashir Ahmed Mehmoodani President of Gadani Ship Breaking Democratic Workers Union, Tahir Khan Yusufzai General Secretary Gadani Ship Breaking Democratic Workers Union, Ghani Zaman Awan General Secretary Karachi Ship Yard Labour Union, Shehla Rizwan of Home Based Women Workers Federation and Shafi Ghori expressed their views.

Source: By Asad Farooq. 25 May 2012

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C05%5C25%5Cstory_25-5-2012_pg12_6

GMS weekly report on PAKISTAN shipbreaking industry for WEEK 20 of 2012:

Activity pre budget has ground to a virtual halt in the past few weeks with most end buvers eyeing June 1st announcement (i.e. budget) with eager interest as a potential increase in import taxes is expected vet again.

The most recent Indian crisis has also given Gadani end users a ready made excuse to revise levels down it is expected that once the buying resumes post budget, it will be on a similar pegging with the numbers being talked now by Indian buyers.

Despite capacity being breached in many of the yards, there may be one or two end buvers keen to take a tanker or two. With end users at a premium any bidding that does ensue will be very much on Buyer's price and terms.

Source: Steel Guru. 22 May 2012

http://www.steelguru.com/middle_east_news/GMS_weekly_report_on_Pakistan_ship_breaking_industry_for_WEEK_20_2012/264902.html