A fire broke out in the engine room on board a tanker, beached in Chittagong, on February 18, killing two workers. According to information, the two men died while scrapping the ship Greek Warrior at Shagorika Ship Breaking Yard.
One of the men was burned and rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital, but he died before reaching the hospital. The body of the second man was discovered on board a few hours later.
As the NGO Shipbreaking Platform informs, the tanker Greek Warrior was sold to Bangladeshi breakers in 2018.
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Ingvild Jenssen, Executive Director and Founder of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, stated:
It is about time that the Greek government puts an end to the appalling shipbreaking practices of its shipping industry and holds it liable for the irreparable damages caused by beaching. The EU has set a standard that should be followed by Greek ship owners, even when not sailing their vessels under an EU flag
The vessel had changed name, from Greek Warrior to S Warrior, as well as flag, from Panama to Palau, before its final voyage.
According to new data released by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, on January 30, 744 large ocean-going commercial vessels were sold to the scrap yards in 2018. 518 out of these vessels, were broken down on tidal mudflats in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, amounting to a record-breaking 90,4% of the gross tonnage dismantled globally.
Commenting on this, Ms. Jenssen notes that in breaching yards workers risk their lives and suffer from exposure to toxics. Also, the coastal ecosystems are devastated. Ship owners are responsible to selling to recycling yards that invest in their workers and environment.
In 2018 34 workers lost their lives.
In addition, at least 14 workers died in Alang, making 2018 one of one of the worse years for Indian yards in terms of accident records in the last decade.
Another 20 workers died and 12 workers were severely injured in the Bangladeshi yards.
In Pakistan, local sources confirmed 1 death and 27 injuries. Seven injuries were linked to yet another fire that broke out on-board a beached tanker.
