Ship Breaking
Yes. Ship Breaking is a Massive Industry.
And. It is also considered Recycling.
In short Ship – Breaking is:
- It is manual labour of breaking up ships for the use of recycling/reusing/reselling its parts
- It is a process of essentially recycling parts and raw materials
- Ships usually have a lifespan of 25 to 30 years
- Though it is considered recycling and part of a larger effort to reduce waste, it is by far one of the most damaging industries to the environment and an extremely hazardous type of work for its labour force
- 90% of all shipbreaking is located in Asia with India and Bangladesh having the largest share
- Alang (India), Chittagong (Bangladesh), Gadani (Pakistan) are the largest in the world respectively
- The largest sources of ships come from China and Europe
- In 2020, the pandemic had effectively crippled the cruise industry and hence cruise ships began to appear in larger numbers in India and Bangladesh
- In 2004, The Basel Convention classified old ships as “toxic waste”
- The importance of recycling in an environmentally favorable condition
Interesting Facts from Bangladesh:
- For 14 months at the beginning of 2009 – Environmental Lawyers won a case to block all ships from being imported for shipbreaking leading to a great loss of jobs for the
- However, it was overturned after 14 months and shipbreaking had resumed though the rate of scrapping has fallen drastically