Shipbreaking

(Photo: Edward Burtynsky -- Shipbreaking No. 9a, Bangladesh 2000)

I watched 'Manufactured Landscapes' at work today, a documentary that follows Canadian photographer, Edward Burtynsky, on a tour of Asia as he takes large-scale photographs of giant industrial landscapes. A number of different subjects are covered but that part I found most moving was the section about Shipbreaking. Burtynsky's photo's covering this are breathtaking (found under Works-Ships-Shipbreaking.) I immediately wanted to learn more about the process, history, and effects. With large metal ships, after 25-30 years there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomic. They are then sold and dismantled to recover and recycle the steel which makes up about 95% of the ship. In the 1970s shipbreaking was concentrated in Europe, mainly the UK. Performed at docks, it was a highly mechanised industrial operation. As the costs of upholding environmental, health and safety standards increased this industry moved to less developed nations. Now most shipbreaking is done in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India due to lower labor costs and less stringent environmental regulations dealing with the disposal of lead paint and other toxic substances. Shipbreaking activities pollute the soil, sea and rivers. The ships currently being dismantled contain many toxic substances like asbestos, lead, mercury, chromium, and arsenic. The chemicals and general work conditions are horrible for the underpaid workers. The death toll is high and most are expected to contract cancer due to being unprotected from asbestos dust and heavy metals. Despite the environmentally positive nature of recycling these huge ships, there are many issues surrounding the lack of regulation for toxic chemicals in these countries and the human rights violations occurring with the general labourers.