This
year, falling freight rates have led many shipping lines to send their old oil
tankers to an early grave - to the South Asian shipbreaking yards where they
are torn down over a matter of weeks and end up as a scrap pile. On the shores
of Bangladesh, which hosts the world’s largest ship recycling industry,
shipbreaking is often seen as the work of hired hands from the poorest sections
of the Bangla society.
“Shipbreaking
started in Bangladesh in the 1960s. It happened when local people saw that
breaking ships was a bit profitable, and they started getting financing for the
job - there was no environmental or workers’ safety concern at that time,” said
Mohammed Ali Shahin, program officer of NGO Shipbreaking Platform in
Bangladesh. “From 2000, NGOs like us and the media are concerned about the
issue.”
The
problems facing the community indulged in the trade is alarming. The shipbreaking
industry witnesses several violations in its daily operations including
environmental pollution, dearth of safety regulations and accidents caused due
to it, worker exploitation, and inadequate waste management facilities.
The
daily laborers on the shore are predominantly people hailing from the northern
part of Bangladesh, who move down south in search of jobs and a better living.
“These workers come from poverty-stricken areas, and don’t have any chance of
generating income in their villages. The shipbreaking industry is easy to get a
job in, as it does not need any training or certificate - you just go there,
and if you have a person to contact, you can join in,” said Shahin.
The
people who control the trade are influential people in Bangladesh, and in the
absence of regulations and compliance mechanisms in the industry, turn a blind
eye to the plight of workers. This resulted in various accidents over the
years, till NGOs started intervening in and advocated for safety regulations in
the trade, bringing national and international attention to the industry.
“In
2009, the Bangladeshi court gave a judgment that all ships coming to the yard
should be pre-cleaned of all the debris on-board. Since 2012, the shipbreaking
industry is being regulated by the Bangladesh Ministry of Industry,” said
Shahin.
Though
conditions have considerably improved, Shahin felt that a lot more could be
done to improve the working conditions of laborers. “Accidents are still
happening, and 14 workers have already died this year. Workers are still
working without safety equipment in most of the yards,” he said. However,
Shahin is quick to add that a few yards are actively looking to improve the
situation, by getting certified through national governing bodies for being
compliant with the existing standards.
“As
an NGO, we help the workers by educating them on the risks involved and their
basic rights as workers. We also communicate with the owners and try helping
the government to improve the situation by creating a comprehensive approach to
upgrading shipbreaking yards,” he said.
The
International Maritime Organization (IMO) and UN Environmental Programme (UNEP)
have initiated laws like the Hong Kong convention that provides guidelines on
ship recycling and regulations on how the ships need to be sent into the yard.
To an extent, the ships coming into the Bangladeshi shore accentuate the
environmental and workers’ health crisis.
“Ships
coming in from Europe bring in a lot of waste. We try to raise the issue that
it is not our waste and that EU shipping companies should be responsible for
that,” said Shahin. “We send the message that the EU countries and their
shipping companies should contribute to the development of the shipbreaking
industry by bringing waste management facilities and also ensuring safe
recycling of their ships that come into Bangladesh.”
Apart
from Bangladesh, countries like India, Pakistan, and China also process ship
scrap, but Beijing is now looking to stop further activities in ship recycling
- in accordance with its new environmental protection laws. China currently
breaks down around 2.5 million tonnes of shipping scrap every year, and it
leaving the market would put additional pressure on the Indian subcontinent.
The
2020 IMO sulfur cap regulation would render many ships unusable, and this could
lead to a lot more vessels making their way to the recycling yard. Regardless
of this, the only sensible way forward would be for shipping lines to strictly
meet regulations and make sure the community that services scrap does not end
up suffering because of it.
https://youtu.be/WOmtFN1bfZ8
Source: freight waves. 09 August
2018
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