Problems and Prospects of Ship Breaking Industries of Bangladesh

In the context of increased importance of ship breaking activities in Bangladesh, specially contribution to construction & structural development (>80%); and in national economy & employment opportunity for the poor. But indiscriminate and haphazard ship breaking activities in once biodiversity rich coastal area of Sitakunda, Chittagong is now a barren field. The area is severely degraded with loss of its physical, chemical & biological characteristics.

There is very little information on the present status of biodiversity in the area and impact of ship breaking on fisheries and biodiversity. Verbal reports from fishermen indicate that there is a drastic reduction in fish catches which is likely to be due to this ship breaking activities. Ship breaking activities has not yet been recognized as ‘industry’ and still there are no separate guidelines or rules for ship breaking activities in Bangladesh. As a result, there is often accident, loss of valuable human lives & serious violation of human rights & labour rights, including very low wages.

On the other hand, impact of ship breaking on the biodiversity is also matter of exploration. But to assess the impact of ship breaking on biodiversity & fishery resources, a research or study is urgently needed not only for the conservation of fishery resources but also to implement a sustainable & eco-friendly policy for ship breaking in Bangladesh. Key words SBRI = The Ship Breaking and Recycling Industry. Shipbreaking: Shipbreaking is the process of dismantling an obsolete vessel’s structure for scrapping or disposal.

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Conducted on a pier, dry dock or dismantling yard, it involves a wide range of activities. From removing all the gear and equipment that are on the ships to cutting down and recycling the ship’s infrastructure. Shipbreaking is a challenging process, due to the structural complexity of the ships and the environmental, safety and health issues involved. Recycling: The process of taking a ship apart; term preferred by the shipping industry. When procedures to safeguard the environment and workers' health and safety are applied, known as “green recycling”.

Executive summary The ship breaking and recycling industry (SBRI) converts end-of-life ships into steel and other recyclable items. Ship recycling offers the most environmentally sustainable way of disposing of old vessels, with virtually every part of the hull and machine complex being reused or recycled as scrap metal. Although the industry is beneficial from a life-cycle assessment point of view, over the years it has gravitated toward countries with low labor costs, weak regulations on occupational safety, and limited environmental enforcement.

The “global shift” in the industry to countries with comparatively weaker regulatory systems is of particular concern as ships contain many hazards that can have significant detrimental effects on humans and the environment if not dealt with properly. Currently, the global center of the ship breaking and recycling industry is located in South Asia, specifically Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. These three countries account for 70–80 percent of the international market for ship breaking of ocean-going vessels, with China and Turkey accounting for most of the rest.

Only about 5 percent of the global volume of such vessels is scrapped outside these five countries. This study focuses on the SBRI in Bangladesh and Pakistan to get a better understanding of the economics of the industry and the environmental impacts arising out of such activity and to explore possible ways in which such environmental effects may be mitigated. 1. 0 Introduction Bangladesh has a long coastal belt of about 710 km which is enriched with natural resources specially fish and other aquatic species of different varieties and has been the focal point of different economic activities.

Most of these seashore areas are situated in Chittagong. Sitakund is a seashore area situated a few kilometers north of Chittagong where most of the shipsbreaking yards are concentrated. Shipbreaking industry has not been developed in a day. It has been developed gradually in Bangladesh passing through various stages of its development at an international level. Though the shipbreaking in Bangladesh started in sixties; commercially it started in late seventies. The only shipbreaking industry of the country has been developed in Sitakund areas, Chittagong.

There are about 20 forward and backward linkage industries based on this shipbreaking. Now, there are about 20 shipbreaking yards in Sitakund where thousand and hundreds of labour are working. The workers are all engaged in dangerous physical labor but they don’t have safety equipments like helmets, goggles, gloves, boots and work suits, medical facilities and moreover financial security. Over the last twenty years more than 400 workers have been killed and 6000 seriously injured according to the Bangladeshi media.

The explosion of the Iranian tanker TT Dena on 31 may 2000 alone is said to have caused 50 deaths. To this toll must be added thousands of cases of irreversible disease which have occurred and will occur in future due to the toxic materials that are handled and inhaled without minimum precautions or protective cares. 1. 1 Objective of the Study The ship breaking industry provides great advantages. It’s probably the most environmentally sustainable way of disposing of old vessels, it creates jobs and supply a substantial quantity of scrap steel for the iron and steel industries (e. , it contributed to about 50% of Bangladesh’s steel production). However, the hazardous waste and associated occupational health hazards pose a significant national and global concern. The main objective of this report is presenting an overview of this industry through analyzing the prospect and the environmental problems arise form this industry.

1. 2 Methodology of the Study

There are two types of Assignment method available and they are conclusive and exploratory. Considering the subject topic I have chosen exploratory method.

1. 2. 1 Primary Sources

I have not conducted any survey, rather I have given emphasize on secondary sources.

1. 2. 2 Secondary Sources:

In order to complete my assignment work, I depended on the secondary data more than primary data. I got the refined secondary data from the Internet by surfing huge web pages. I downloaded many WebPages, files ; related other things which were very much helpful for me to complete this assignment.

1. 3 Limitations

1. Time limitation is one of the problems to make this assignment.
2. Amount of data collection is not very huge because only websites are not sufficient to complete this assignment.
3. Data collection process was irregular.

2. 0 Body of the report

2. 1 Prospect of ship breaking industry

The ship breaking and recycling industry plays a significant economic role in Bangladesh and Pakistan, supplying a substantial quantity of re-rollable scrap steel for the iron and steel industries. SBRI provides more than half of Bangladesh’s steel supply, for example, making it a strategic industry in that country.

The industry also creates hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs for some of the poorest and most marginalized segments of the population in those countries. The work force in each country varies with the volume of ship breaking but may range from 8,000–22,000 workers in the ship recycling yards to 200,000 in the supply chain, shops, and re-rolling mills—with dependents in extended families estimated to reach over 500,000 in Bangladesh. Shipbreaking plays an important role in the national economy for a number of reasons:

2. 1. Production of steel

The scrapping of ships provides the country’s main source of steel and in doing so saves substantial amount of money in foreign exchange by reducing the need to import steel materials. Bangladesh needs 8 million tons of building materials per year, of which iron is a major component. The iron from recycled ships supplies iron materials in the country. This does mean however, that the owners have more power and control over the amount of steel that is sold and the price it is sold at.

2. 1. 2 Green industry (if properly recycled)

In some ways it can be considered a “green industry”. Almost everything on the ship and the ship itself is recycled, reused and resold. The scrapping of ships supplies raw materials to steel mills, steel plate re-manufacturing, asbestos re-manufacturing as well as providing furniture, paint, electrical equipment and lubricants, oil to the number of businesses that have spouted up specifically as a result.

2. 1. 3 Source of revenue

It generates large amounts of revenue for various Government authorities through the payment of taxes. Every year the Government collects almost 9000 million taka in revenue from the shipbreaking industry through import duty, yards tax and other taxes.

2. 1. 4 Employment Opportunity

Despite the conditions that the workers are employed under, this is an industry that employs more than 20,000 people directly. It provides employment for some of the poorest people from the north of Bangladesh who would otherwise have no employment. These mainly economic benefits have made shipbreaking a powerful industry. But these economic benefits should be considered together with the social and environmental costs. Together, with better regulation shipbreaking can also bring social and environmental benefits.

2. 2 Environmental Impact

2. 2. 1 Pollutants discharged from shipbreaking

Though shipbreaking has earned a good reputation for being a profitable industry in developing countries there are a number of environmental and human health hazards. Depending on their size and function, scrapped ships have an unladened weight of between 5,000 and 40,000 tons (the average being 13000+), 95% of which is steel, coated with between 10 and 100 tons of paint containing lead, cadmium, organotins, arsenic, zinc and chromium.

Ships also contain a wide range of other hazardous wastes, sealants containing PCBs, up to 7. 5 tones of various types of asbestos and; several thousands liters of oil (engine oil, bilge oil, hydraulic and lubricants oils and grease). Tankers additionally hold up to 1,000 cubic meters of residual oil. Most of these materials have been defined as hazardous waste under the Basel Convention. In Bangladesh, ships containing these materials are being cut up by hand, on open beaches, with no consideration given to safe and environmentally friendly waste management practices.

Ships are not properly cleaned before beaching. Generally, an eyewash test is carried out to certify that a ship is free from dangerous chemical and fumes. Ship breaking activities is a threat to both the terrestrial and marine environment as well as to public health. It is like a mini version of a city that discharges every kind of pollutants a metropolis can generate like liquid, metal, gaseous and solid pollutants.

2. 2. 1. 1 Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP's)

POPs are chemicals that are highly toxic, remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, bioaccumulate through the food web, accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to the human population, wildlife and the environment. There has been a realization that these pollutants, upon exposure of human population, can cause serious health effects ranging from increased incidence of cancers to disruption of hormonal system. Shipbreaking activities are a source of lethal POPs. 2. 2. 1. 2 Asbestos

Asbestos was used in old ships as a heat insulator. As there are no asbestos disposal procedures, during scrapping, workers and the surrounding environment are exposed to the asbestos fibers. Exposure to asbestos fibers (even in very low concentrations) especially through inhalation may cause cancer and asbestosis. On the shipbreaking beaches, asbestos fibers and flocks fly around in the open air. Workers take out asbestos insulation materials with their bare hands. It has also proven to be one of the most lethal, as inhaling asbestos fibers can lead to a wide range of pulmonary roblems such as asthma and asbestosis - and can also be the direct cause of mesothelioma.

2. 2. 1. 3 Heavy metals

Heavy metals are found in many parts of ships such as in paints, coatings, anodes and electrical equipment. These are taken apart with no protective measures in place and reused. Exposure can result in lung cancer, cancer of the skin, intestine, kidney, liver or bladder. It can also cause damage to blood vessels.

2. 2. 1. 4 Polluted oil

As a result of breaking the ships, oil residues and the other refuses are being spilled, mixed with the sea water and left floating along the entire seashore.

Oil may cause serious damage in different ways, such as a reduction of light intensity beneath the water surface which inhibits photosynthesis. Oil films on water reduce the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide across the air-sea interface which is harmful to aquatic life. It also causes damage to the bird population by coating their feathers with oil which causes buoyancy and insulation losses. Sometimes spilling may cause wide spread mortality amongst the population of fish, mammals, worms, crabs, mollusks and other water organisms.

2. 2. 2 Impact on physiochemical properties of seawater

Ship scrapping activities pollute the seawater environment in the coastal area of Fauzdarhat to Kumira of Chittagong, Bangladesh. As a result, toxic concentration of ammonia, marine organisms found in seawater had an increase in PH levels. Extensive human and mechanical activities accelerate the rate and amount of seashore erosion and results in higher turbidity of seawater. Critical concentration of DO and higher BOD were found with an abundance of floatable materials (grease balls and oil films) in the seawater. 2. 2. 3 Impact on inter-tidal sediments and soils

In shipbreaking areas various refuse and disposable materials are discharged and spilled from scrapped ships and often get mixed with the sand. The scraps from the ships are staked haphazardly on the sea shore, leaving behind an accumulation of metal fragments and rust (particularly iron) in the soil. These together with extensive human and mechanical activities often go on as matter of routine work resulting in the beach soil losing its binding properties and this accelerates the amount of shore erosion and increase the turbidity of sea water and sediments in the area. . 2. 4 Impact on biodiversity Shipbreaking activities contaminate the coastal soil and sea water environment mainly through the discharge of ammonia, burned oil spillage, floatable grease balls, metal rust (iron) and various other disposable refuse materials together with high turbidity of sea water. The high PH of the seawater and soil observed may be due to the addition of ammonia, oils and lubricants. High turbidity of water can cause a decrease in the concentration of DO and substantially increase the BOD.

Furthermore, oil spilling may cause serious damage by reduction of light intensity, inhibiting the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide across the air-sea water interface, and by acute toxicity. As a result the growth and abundance of marine organisms especially plankton and fishes may seriously be affected. Indiscriminate expansion of ship breaking activities poses a real threat to the coastal inter-tidal zone and its habitat. 3. 0 Recommendation Considering the positive role of ship breaking in national economy ship breaking can not be stopped.

Rather a sustainable approach should be taken to minimize the negative consequences of ship breaking activities in our coastal zone. Government should formulate and implement a national policy and principles for safe and sustainable shipbreaking after having consultation with relevant organizations, employers and workers. Both owner and contractors have to take the responsibility in providing compensation, treatment and security for the labours. Adequate compensation for victims of accident and their families, social security…etc. should be ensured.

Finally, it could be said that, the ship breaking operation involves serious environmental hazards. If the ship breaking industry is to develop in the country, the same may only be allowed ensuring minimization of pollution effect. A longer stretch along the seashore is in no way justified for continuation of this business; rather a certain separate zone like a dockyard should be selected by the competent authority. Preventive measures against environmental and health hazards inherent in the process of ship breaking should be undertaken at the right time, before it is too late.

Bibliography

1. Hossain, D. M. M. M. , Islam, M. M. , 2006, Ship Breaking Activities and its Impact on the Coastal Zone of Chittagong, Bangladesh: Towards Sustainable Management, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ship_breaking http://www. shipbreakingbd. info/
2. Mamun, A. A. , Akther, M. , Ali, M. , Sumaia, K. , Alam, A. , 2005, Worker in Ship Breaking Industries: A Base Line Survey of Chittagong(Bangladesh), Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) Maria, S. , Frank, S. L. , Milen, D. , Robin, B. , Susan, W. , Roy, W. , 2010, Ship Breaking and Recycling Industries in Bangladesh and Pakistan, Report No 58275-SAS

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