Ship
breaking industry offers the promise of employing thousands of hitherto jobless
workers in Bangladesh. The sector supports the country's steel, shipbuilding
and other heavy and light engineering industries.
Some
of the recycled materials are exported, and the rest is sold and reused within
the country. A lot of the materials are of high value to the local economy. In
particular, recycling of steel for producing iron rods for construction, plates
for new ships or for many other purposes is a lucrative business.
According
to a FE report published late last week, Bangladesh emerged as the third
largest ship breaking nation in the world in 2013; in 2012, its ranking was the
second.
However,
problems regarding safety, health and environmental issues have created a
negative image for the industry, despite its positive contribution to job
creation in a country with a high rate of disguised and open unemployment. Only
the other day, three workers were seriously burnt when fire broke out in a
scrap vessel in Sitakunda in Chittagong.
Previously,
ship breaking was done in industrial nations, but because of its hazardous
nature of operations, it has been shifted to South Asian countries where safety
and environmental regulations are more relaxed. About 90 per cent of ship
breaking in the world is done in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China.
The
ship breaking industry has, however, great potential in Bangladesh, having one
of the longest coastlines. But then there must be adequate safeguards for
workers' safety and environmental hazards associated with it.
The
International Maritime Organisation has been trying to implement guidelines,
regulations and conventions for qualitative improvement of ship-breaking
industry around the globe since 2003.
The
'Hong Kong International Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound
Recycling of Ships' is one of them. The Hong Kong Convention (HKC) was adopted
in May 2009 and will come into force upon fulfilment of some requirements. It
is applicable to all merchant ships greater than 500 gross tonnage as well as
to all ship recycling facilities.
The
European Commission, too, is going to enforce the 'European Regulation on Ship
Recycling'. One of the key issues of both regulations, which directly affect
the ship recycling industry, is the authorisation of ship-recycling facilities.
Many ship recycling yards which are not up to the mark, may be eliminated
because of restricted authorisation of ship recycling facilities.
Source: steel guru. 11 February 2014
http://www.steelguru.com/international_news/Turning_ship_breaking_into_a_safe_and_green_industry/332494.html
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