Brussels – As of late,
several shipping companies have already renounced selling their old ships to
the of Bangladesh, as the working and environmental conditions are still
unacceptable. Others continue doing so without any remorse. Recently two ships
were beached at Shital: the “Arctic”, an LNG tanker whose last beneficial owner
was the Russian state-owned tanker-giant Sovcomflot; and the “Aman Trader”,
which was sold for breaking by Greek Universal Shipmanagement Corporation and
was operated by Greek Enterprises Shipping & Trading S.A. The latter has
also sold three ships for breaking to South Asia in 2015 and has been listed by
the Platform as a “global dumper” in 2014.
„It is irresponsible of
ship owners to continue to ignore what is happening in Bangladesh and to
perpetuate a situation of exploitation and unsafe working conditions by
choosing these yards to maximize their profits instead of demanding responsible
ship recycling yards,“ said Patrizia Heidegger, Executive Director of the NGO
Shipbreaking Platform.
At the same time – on
5th September – four workers died following a gas cylinder explosion in a
shipbreaking yard in Chittagong, Bangladesh, a yard that was only established
in 2011. The condition of four more workers is still critical, after suffering
severe burn injuries in the blast. The eight workers were hit by the cylinder
blast when they were getting ready for work. Accidents remain common in the
shipbreaking yards of Bangladesh. According to information gathered by the NGO
Shipbreaking Platform and its member organisations, in 2015 alone 12
shipbreaking workers have died on the job, and 17 more were severely injured.
Last year, 17 shipbreaking workers died in Bangladesh, and at least 37 were
injured. Explosions of gas cylinders, fires, steel plates crashing down in an
uncontrolled manner and falls from heights are all too common risks for the
shipbreaking workers of Chittagong.
And Muhammed Ali Shahin,
coordinator of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform in Bangladesh, commented:
„Continued lack of proper procedures, adequate infrastructure and equipment and
sufficient training, are the root causes for such deadly accidents. We demand
that all yard owners and the relevant authorities push for drastic change and
ensure a safe and sound working environment in the yards. The yard management
must be held responsible.“
The Daily Star, the
leading English-speaking newspaper in Bangladesh, commented that “it is
unacceptable that an industry as huge and risk-prone as ship-breaking should
still be in such a primitive state that allows these horrible accidents to
occur. The apathy and negligence demonstrated by employers violate basic labour
laws that make it mandatory for workplaces to maintain minimum safety
standards”.
Source:
recycling portal. 15 September 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment