Report: Fuel Smuggling Caused Shipbreaking Blast

An official inquiry into the explosion on the scrapped FPSO Aces confirmed that the massive blast was caused by hundreds of thousands of gallons of petroleum products on board.

The inquiry (as reported by local media) said that about 375,000 gallons of fuel and 425,000 gallons of lubricants were on board the vessel.

Aces had been beached at the shipbreaking yards in Gadani, Pakistan. It is believed that sparks from cutting (or the explosion of a cutting gas tank) ignited the petroleum on board; the blast that followed tore apart her decks, killing at least two dozen and injuring 58 more.

The known death toll has risen to 28 since the blast, as many of the injured died of their wounds in the days and weeks after. The exact numbers of the dead may never be known, as the yard did not keep written records of its workers. Pakistani unions estimate that there are at least ten workers still missing, based on inquiries from the men’s families.

The provincial government has arranged for a $22,000 payment for families of the deceased, plus $1,500 for each of the injured.

Pakistani officials have acknowleged that beaching is often used as an opportunity for smuggling petroleum products into the country. The ministry of shipping's report called for an investigation into customs practices: the shipbreaking contractor had not obtained customs clearance before bringing the Aces onto the beach.

Kamal Siddiqi, former editor of Pakistan's Express Tribune, alleges that high federal duties on imported ships have driven many Gadani shipbreaking firms out of business, and that those remaining are forced to smuggle fuel as a way to supplement their income.

The Minister for Ports and Shipping, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, said Friday that the government and the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan would draft new laws on shipbreaking. He added that the government was also looking to address the lack of emergency facilities at Gadani. Eyewitness reports from the day of the blast suggested that there were not enough ambulances to carry the wounded away for treatment.

Source: maritime-executive. 18 November 2016

http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/report-fuel-smuggling-caused-shipbreaking-blast

OSU™ Green Ship Recycling Facility

Together with our partner shipyard we offer green ship recycling facilities in Aliaga, Turkey. These facilities comply with the stringent rules of the

•Hong Kong & Basel Conventions

•EU Ship Recycling Regulations

•National legislation

•ISO 30000:2009

Our focus lies on recycling of semi-subs, offshore rigs and ships. Our facility is set up to deal with the required procedures and through our collaboration with top specialists and surveyors warrant a zero impact policy.

We are Cash Buyers who have recognized the need for a responsible (green) ship recycling programme, which includes contractual and procedural arrangements to ensure that end-of-life ships and structures are recycled in a responsible manner. Safety, occupational health, welfare and most important: environmental protection is our first concern and are monitored at all times.

We have chosen Aliaga because here we have a location that is not notorious for accidents and environmental disasters as well as corruption. Even if the prices cannot meet the level of Along in India or Chittagong in Bangladesh it is still attractive for ship owners and operators especially for vessels that operate West of Suez. Once the vessel has been delivered to the yard the scrap seller can rest assured as our own inspectors from USA & Germany will follow the scrapping process through to completion and file a summary about all material and its handling. A final report will be filed and a copy will be made available online.

For your general information here a description of what is involved from an article published in the MarineInsight publication:

What is Green Ship Recycling?

“With the rise in awareness towards marine environment, there have been several changes in the process of ship breaking, which have given rise to a new term – green ship recycling.

There are several reasons that have made the concept of green ship recycling arise but the main ones are:

• To isolate those parts of the ship which are harmful and dangerous to both marine and human environment

• To conserve marine ecosystems by proper disposing of ship breaking waste

• Reusing those parts of the ship that can be re-used successfully, thus saving resources.

Main components of the ship that are re-used include steel parts, machinery, life saving equipment, and other parts in the interior of the ship. Green ship recycling was initially carried out only by developed countries, however today, even developing countries have started calculating with processes that promote green ship breaking.

One of the major harmful materials that are disposed of with the help of green ship recycling processes is asbestos. Any great informational site about asbestos will tell you that asbestos has been banned from being used in ships from the past three decades. But the ships in which asbestos had been used initially need to be recycled. Continuous exposure to asbestos can cause problems not just to the marine life forms but also to the people aboard the ship. This is why ships with asbestos need to be recycled with far more caution. Many green ship recycling labs are so well equipped that the success rate for the disposal of the harmful materials is nearly around 99%.

Apart from US and the other developed countries in Europe, shipping concerns in nations like China, India and Bangladesh also contribute substantially to the process of green ship recycling.

Throughout the world, seminars and symposiums are conducted in order to make more ship builders and proprietors aware of the benefit of green ship breaking. In these meetings and seminars, various feasible methods to carry out the process of ship breaking are provided. These methods are cost efficient and help to ease concerns about the process of ship recycling.

In order to become a part of the green ship recycling process, a ship has to open a certain document known as the ‘Green Passport’. This will carry through to the final ship breaking procedures. With all this in mind it can be said that Green ship recycling because of its success rate will become a fast growing sector within the marine industry in the future. Added with the benefit of more technological developments, it can be hoped that the process of ship breaking will become more efficient and feasible to be implemented across many nations of the world.”

We would encourage any ship owner and operator today to consider us as your partner for ship recycling and give us the opportunity to quote for your vessels or offshore structures. We are available also for decommissioning projects through to disposal of all material involved. Our global network of companies that are active in all offshore and shipping industries gives you a single partner to produce results that carry peace of mind! Try us!

Source: hellenic shipping news. 19 November 2016

http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/osu-green-ship-recycling-facility/

ABAD for effective safety measures at Gadani ship-breaking yards:

The Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) urged that instead of stopping work at Gadani Ship-Breaking Yards, proper safety measures be ensured at these yards.

ABAD leadership, in a statement here, expressed sorrow over the recent tragic fire incident at a vessel in Gadani ship-breaking yards. ABAD Chairman Mohsin Sheikhani, Senior Vice Chairman Muhammad Hassan Bakshi and Southern Region Chairman Muhammad Ayoob said that the rates of steel bars used in construction were increased by Rs 15,000 per ton due to closure of work at Gadani ship-breaking yards.

The builders were facing hardship to continue work on their ongoing projects due to shortage of steel in local market. They lamented that almost twenty thousand people associated with Gadani ship-breaking yards, directly or indirectly, lost their jobs. They called for lifting Section 144 imposed at Gadani ship-breaking yards so that ship breakers could resume their work.

Source: Hellenic shipping news. 19 November 2016

http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/abad-for-effective-safety-measures-at-gadani-ship-breaking-yards/

Govt to introduce ship breaking laws soon: Bizenjo

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Ports and Shipping, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo Friday said that federal government would draft ship breaking laws in coordination with Provincial Assembly to avoid tragic incidents in future like Gadani.

Responding to a Calling Attention Notice in the House, the minister said that introduction of ship breaking laws was jurisdiction of the Balochistan Assembly but federal government would help out in this regard.

“The federal government was in process to formulate shipping laws and hopefully these laws will help to stop Gadami types of incidents in future,” he added.

Mir Hasil said that after the Gadani incident, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had constituted a committee on federal level to probe the tragic incident.

The minister said that another committee was also constituted by the provincial government on the matter and announced compensation of Rs 15,00,000 for heirs of victims and Rs 1,00,000 for injured persons.

Mir Hasil said that committee formed by the Federal Government had already presented its report to the Prime Minister while report of the committee formed by the Balochistan Government was under preparation.

The Minister said 28 people were died and 50 others injured in this unfortunate incident.

He said three officers had been suspended for their negligence and further investigation was in progress.

“There are no medical and fire brigade facilities at the Gadani ship-yard site and now the government is taking all safety measures to avoid these types of incidents in future,” he added.

Source: samaa tv. 18th November 2016

https://www.samaa.tv/pakistan/2016/11/govt-to-introduce-ship-breaking-laws-soon-bizenjo/

In death, they have left without a trace

The reported death toll obscures the true horror of what happened in the Gadani ship-breaking yard in Pakistan on Nov 2 when an oil tanker being disassembled caught fire. Twenty-six dead is the count so far, based on workers' records and the body parts recovered. But the true scale of this disaster, measured by the number of lives lost alone, will simply never be known.

Pakistani rangers and workers use a stretcher to carry a colleague after he was injured in a gas cylinder explosion at the Gadani shipbreaking yard, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Karachi on November 1, 2016.

And that's because, for the most part, there is no record of how many people were working on the tanker when it went up in flames.

These are contract employees without names or documents, who are happy to get meagre wages for the dangerous work they do.

They are hired without paperwork, thanks to an exploitative contract system.

No IDs or employment letters are issued.

They ask no questions and - if they do dare to demand basic safety measures, protection and medical services - are ignored by the mafias that run the Gadani ship-breaking yard.

If they protest, they are fired and if they organise unions, the shipyard owners uses goons and sometimes state machinery to crush them.

What they get paid depends on what category of worker they fall under.

A 12-hour day working with little or no protective gear under back-breaking conditions may fetch 600 rupees (S$12.60) to 750 rupees.

There is no dedicated dispensary at the yard, and the nearest medical facility is a rundown "hospital" - reportedly run by the very same contractors that exploit these workers.

In life, they were invisible and uncounted and, in death, they have left no trace of their existence.

Such was the intensity of the blaze that firefighters saw the water they were spraying evaporate before it even touched the flames.

Many workers were incinerated in a blaze that reduced bone and flesh into ash that was then swept away into the sea.

We will never know how many were lost but one can draw estimates based on the number of people needed to break down a vessel the size of the 24,000-tonne tanker.

Ship-breaking Mazdoor Union president Bashir Mehoodani estimates at least 200 workers would have been needed while others say the number could be as high as 400.

Deaths and injuries are common at Gadani but never really make it to the news given that they - until now - occur not in large single incidents but in isolated ones.

Explosions and accidents are the main cause of deaths but, again, undocumented are the effects of long-term exposure to hazardous gases and chemicals on the workers.

Nevertheless, a look at the figures over the years points to clear neglect and criminal negligence by the Gadani ship-breaking yard authorities and government departments.

If the lack of basic health facilities and firefighting equipment is shocking, given the nature of the work done at Gadani, it will come as no surprise that even a single dedicated ambulance was not available.

In this context, it seems silly to mention the basic procedures that should be followed when disassembling an oil tanker, but mention them one must.

In ship-breaking lingo, this is referred to as "hot work", and in the case of a tanker like this, it must be preceded by a thorough cleaning.

The remaining oil has to be manually pumped out using small air-operated pumps and even buckets - a time-consuming process.

Then, after further cleaning, huge air blowers and fans are used to dry the residual oil, which again takes several days.

After this, a certified chemist must give the all-clear and only then can the actual work begin.

These protocols were not followed at what we proudly boast of as being the world's second largest ship-breaking yard, and all for the sake of greed and healthy profit margins.

The federal and provincial governments ask no question, and why should they when the revenues keep rolling in?

Work at Gadani has picked up again and the production line has to move along at a rapid clip to make sure that bank accounts remain healthy.

And if the wheels of unfettered capitalism have to be greased by the blood and ashes of the nameless dead, then so be it.

Source: asia one. 15 November 2016

http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/death-they-have-left-without-trace