The way forward for a safe ship recycling industry
Shipbreaking the dismantling of vessels for the recovery of steel and other materials mainly takes place in developing countries. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan dismantle more than two thirds of all end-of-life vessels sent each year for breaking globally.
Shipbreaking is a hazardous industry both for the workers and for the environment and adequate technologies for dismantling and the management of hazardous wastes need to be used, stringent procedures followed and labour rights enforced. End-of-life vessels are considered as hazardous waste under international environmental law when they contain toxic materials such as asbestos, heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and organotins like tributyltin (TBT). These hazardous materials are structurally part of the vessels and are found, for example, in the engines. So far, there are no green ships built without any hazardous material.
Today, shipbreaking in South Asia is still taking place at the cost of environmental destruction and severe health risks for the workers and the local population who are exposed to this hazardous industry. In 2012, ship owners sold 8506 end-of-life vessels for scrapping in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Beaching, the method currently used in South Asia, makes it impossible to ensure clean and safe operations, as it consists in breaking ships directly on the beach without proper structures to ensure full containment of pollutants, hazardous waste management, and protection of workers health and safety. The shipbreaking industry is responsible for many preventable accidents, work-related illnesses and loss of human lives, as well as the distribution of hazardous materials and the pollution of the surrounding marine and coastal environment. The ship owners and the global maritime industry, mainly located in the industrialised countries, externalise the real costs for clean and safe recycling to the South Asian countries where laws guaranteeing environmental protection and workers health and safety are not properly enforced.
The International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in particular the Basel Convention Secretariat (SBC) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have all provided regulation and guidance regarding environmental and labour conditions in shipbreaking. The Basel Convention, to which Pakistan is a State party, sets out requirements for the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes such as end-of-life vessels and for the environmentally sound management of hazardous waste resulting from shipbreaking. The IMOs Hong Kong Convention will not enter into force for many years; however, flag states, ship owners and ship recyclers can already work towards early compliance, for instance regarding the preparation of a sound Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) and a Ship Recycling Plan. Recently, also the European Union has agreed upon a Regulation on Ship Recycling. Unfortunately, international regulation and guidance have so far not led to the substantial improvements needed on the ground in Pakistan where laws are not enforced and sector-specific regulation is absent.
Simultaneously, the large majority of ship owners who take the decision to send a ship for dismantling in Pakistan or its neighbouring countries do not demand clean and safe recycling. In most cases, ship owners do not even provide an IHM to allow for the safe handling, storage and disposal of all hazardous materials present on board ships. Both the flag states and the states where the majority of owners of large commercial vessels are based have done too little to ensure clean and safe ship recycling and to prevent dubious and even illegal practices in the shipbreaking business. Especially major ship-owning countries have the responsibility to prevent the sale of end-of-life vessels containing hazardous waste to a recipient country, if it is known that the latter cannot enforce international waste law. The shipping nations must contribute financially and technically to the improvement of the shipbreaking yards so that these can guarantee the safety of workers and environmental protection as laid down in the Basel Convention and its Technical Guidelines, the ILO Guidelines and the Hong Kong Convention and its Guidelines.
In 2012, UNEP published a case study to describe models for compliant ship recycling facilities off the beach taking into account the requirements of the Basel Convention and the Hong Kong Convention. It identifies the necessary steps to be taken in the short, medium and long term at ship recycling facilities to allow for compliance with the two Conventions, focusing in particular on the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes. The UNEP survey chose Pakistan as a test case. Moreover, in 2013, the Secretariat of the Basel Convention published a feasibility report providing models for alternative, environmentally sound ship recycling operations, identifying suitable sites and estimating the costs for the establishment and operation of such facilities. The government and the industry need to invest in sustainable technologies and practices off the beach with adequate infrastructures and proper downstream waste management and which allow for safe working conditions.
Global Perspective
Currently, the global shipbreaking industry dismantles more than 1,000 large ocean-going vessels, such as container ships, bulkers, oil and gas tankers and passenger ships, every year in order to recover steel and other valuable metals or recyclable items. Nearly all ship recycling activities are concentrated in five countries: the three South Asian countries (India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan), China, and Turkey. Further capacity is available in North America (US, Canada, Mexico) and within the European Union (amongst others Denmark, Belgium and the UK). At present, South Asia undoubtedly receives the largest share of end-of-life vessels.
In 2012, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform recorded a total of 1,254 large commercial vessels dismantled world-wide13. 68% of these end-of-life vessels were broken in South Asian yards. China attracted 17% of the ship recycling market (209 ships), whereas Turkey covered 12% (153 ships). Around 3% of end-of-life vessels wererecycled elsewhere. The EU represented 2,2% of the total share in 2012 with 28 dismantled ships14.Pakistan ranks fourth in the global comparison, both in terms of scrapped volume as well as in absolute number of ships recycled.
The intensity of ship dismantling activities fluctuates depending on various economic factors on the global and national levels. A main factor is the supply of end-of-life vessels which is directly influenced by the global economy: during an economic recession the current one being a good example ship owners sell older vessels for scrapping. Keeping idle ships may prove to be less economically interesting than selling them for demolition. At the same time, the demand for scrap steel also influences scrapping activities: the growth of the shipbreaking sector in South Asia is linked to the growing demand for steel. Depending on local and global steel prices, the scrap steel recovered in the shipbreaking yards is sold on the domestic markets in India, Bangladesh or Pakistan, but can also be re-exported for example to the European Union.
Finally, one of the main reasons behind the current global distribution of ships destined for breaking is the comparatively low labour and compliance costs for environmental protection, hazardous waste management and workers health and safety in South Asia.
National Perspective in Pakistan
Increase in ships dismantled per year since 2008 (Image Credit: PSBA)
Informally, shipbreaking in Pakistan started in 1947, before the countrys independence, on the Gadani coast18. The sandy beach (compared to the muddy beach in Bangladesh) and a deep water level allowed for the easy beaching of vessels. The industry grew after the country gained independence and was at its peak in the 1970s and 1980s. At that time, the Gadani shipbreaking yards employed over 30,000 workers directly and Gadani was then considered the largest shipbreaking yard in the world19. For different reasons, amongst others the introduction of comparatively high taxes on the sector under the first Nawaz Sharif government, the Pakistani shipbreaking industry lost its competitiveness to India and Bangladesh.
According to the Pakistan Ship Breakers Association (PSBA), the profit margin for shipbreaking in Pakistan as depicted in the 2010 World Bank report is still correct. The last years have seen a revival of the industry. According to the Chairman of the PSBA, Dewan Rizwan Farooqi, the year 2012 brought more business to the yards again, which reflects the global peak in the total number of ships scrapped in 2012.
According to the PSBA, the industry pays taxes of about 5 billion Pakistani Rupees (circa 4,7 million USD) annually, out of which 30% go to the Provincial Government of Balochistan. The shipbreaking industry argues that it plays an important role in reducing import burdens for scrap steel for the iron industry in Pakistan, contributes to the GDP, and provides employment for workers from Balochistan, which is the countrys poorest province. At the same time, the shipbreaking industry is a direct competitor of the Pakistan steel industry and both industries have been rivalling with each other for instance regarding different levels of taxation.
The Planning Commission of Pakistan intends to revive the industry based on green ship recycling standards and to increase its contribution to the GDP. In 2013, the Federal Minister for Port & Shipping Kamran Michael expressed his desire to encourage shipbreaking activities in Port Qasim, next to Karachi, or even to shift the whole industry to the port area. So far, there is no federal or provincial policy for the shipbreaking industry.
Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is barely used in the Gadani shipbreaking yards. Shoes, goggles and hats are given to workers when they join the yards. The workers in Gadani usually wear leather shoes, but are rarely provided with proper safety shoes. Moreover, other PPE such as helmets are not used due to the heat and the yard operators do not enforce the use of PPE. Workers indicated that heat and humidity make wearing gear difficult. The PSBA declared that gloves, shoes, and helmets were handed out, but also admitted that workers sometimes refused to wear them.
Respiratory protection and masks are not available and according to the trade union, workers complain about exposure to fumes. The torch-cutter usually uses simple goggles. Workers on the ships do not wear climbing gear while working at great heights. The NTUF claims that any additional PPE needs to be purchased by the workers because the employers dont provide it.
Typical injuries and reported casualties
The typical injuries are cuts (35%) and burns (31%). Many of these injuries are preventable and result from noncompliance with provisions for the use of PPE. During a discussion with workers on the yards in December 2012, one worker showed a missing toe, probably the result of a lack of PPE such as safety shoes, while another one showed a crushed hand. Bone fractures, the third most common injury, may be correlated to unsafe operations and non-compliance with standard safety procedures. Moreover, injuries can also result from poor training of the workforce and the foremen, who are aggravated by the temporary hiring of workers and the impossibility to train workers on the long term. The development of procedures, as well as an improvement with regards to mechanisation of dangerous operations, could help prevent accidents.
In general, not much information is available about occupational health and safety as well as accidents and death. The NTUF recorded 12 deaths in the Gadani shipbreaking yards in 2012. Most workers were killed by falling from heights, were crushed under steel plates or huge metal pieces, in explosions or fire, or by suffocation. Four deaths recorded in June 2013 exemplify the dangers for workers in the yards: while one worker died from falling from a great height into a tank, three were killed in an explosion inside the hull of a ship. However, there is no complete record of casualties, injuries, permanent damage and occupational diseases caused by activities in the shipbreaking yards therefore, the full impact on human health remains unknown. Especially the long-term effects caused by the exposure to hazardous materials, such as asbestos, is hard to foresee. Despite the fact that the NTUF recorded several fatal accidents in 2012, including explosions and fires, the PSBA claimed there were no such casualties, which raises questions regarding the consistency and reliability of the information made available.
Source and Image Credit: NGO Shipbreaking Platform
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