The COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily shuttered shipbreaking yards in Bangladesh, delaying safety reforms in one of the world’s most popular ship dismantling destinations which has been scrutinized several times over its dangerous and dirty practices.
According to Reuters, almost all of the 70 active yards in Bangladesh have submitted Ship Recycling Facility Plans since 2019, which is a major step as Bangladesh readies to join a global treaty to make the industry safer.
Developed by the Hong Kong Convention with input from IMO, the Ship Recycling Facility Plan (SRFP) is the main document relied upon by Competent Authorities when authorising a Ship Recycling Facility.
However, only one yard has implemented its plan so far, as the yards closed down due to COVID-19 and suffered losses, reports say.
Ship dismantling in Southeast Asian yards is a common practice for major shipowners of the world who find there the cheapest places to scrap ships. Dirty and dangerous shipbreaking in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan has been strongly criticized by global NGOs for many years, with marine pollution, hazardous waste dumping and unsafe working conditions, as well as the illegal exploitation of child workers, being among the key areas of concern.
From the 674 ships dismantled in 2019, a total of 469 ships were broken down on only three beaches in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, according to NGO Shipbreaking Platform. The Platform documented accidents that killed 24 workers on the beach of Chattogram (formerly known as Chittagong), making 2019 the worst year for Bangladeshi yards in terms of fatalities since 2010.
As part of its efforts to make industry safer, Bangladesh has given itself a deadline of 2023 to clean up shipbreaking, after which it plans to ratify the 2009 Hong Kong Convention. The Convention will come into force when approved by countries that break 40% of the world’s ships by tonnage. Currently, it is at almost 30%.