On the Bangladeshi coast of the Bay of Bengal,
past-their-prime oil tankers and cargo vessels are beached on the muddy shore
like industrial, open-air graveyards. There, these massive ships are taken
apart by men — “shipbreakers” — who toil hand-to-metal for minimal wages on
the toxic, exceptionally dangerous sites.
A Maritime Graveyard: A satellite image shows a 1.6km
long stretch of the bangladeshi coast just north of chittagong, where ships
from around the world are beached and dismantled. Thirteen kilometres of
mangroves have been cleared for the shipbreaking yards, which are often little
more than a sliver of beach wide enough for a single large ship. The coast now
holds 80 active yards, with new ones added each year.
National Geographic‘s Peter Gwin offers a fascinating
glimpse at the treacherous practice, where nearly everything on these
decades-old liners — from the remaining fuel, machinery and fittings to the
engines, and lifeboats — is scavenged and resold or recycled for a profit that
can reach upwards of a million dollars per ship over the demolition span of
three to four months.
After workers spent several days cutting through the
decks of the Leona I, a large section suddenly crashes, sending shards of steel
flying toward the yard managers. Built in Split, Croatia, the cargo vessel was
at sea for 30 years, about the average ship’s life span.
At low tide ship-breakers haul a 4500kg cable to a
beached ship to winch pieces ashore as they dismantle it.
The work itself is harrowing, and those who survive
are often left with deep scars, both physical and psychological. Photographer
Mike Hettwer’s images show the incredible disparity in scale between man and
machine — it’s hard to imagine that people can have any effect on these sea
beasts at all. Head over to NatGeo for the full story and more pics. [National
Geographic]
Source: GIZMODO. 7
May 2014
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