Ship Breaking

[Kam]

After finding out the fate of the Queen of Victoria was to end up at a ship breaking beach in Alang India, I started reading up on how ship breaking is done. What I found out made my hair stand on end.

Quote from: www.greenpeaceweb.org/shipbreak/whatis.asp

"Ships are scrapped by poor workers earning between US $1,5 and 2,5 a day. They break the ships with torch cutters and their bare hands - unprotected from toxic substances, explosions and falling steel.

Well over 100,000 men and women work at shipbreaking yards worldwide. They are desperate for a job. Unknowingly they dry asbestos plates in the sun and sell the pieces. Even in their sleeping quarters the toxic substances are all over the place.

Most of the ships dismantled today were built in the 1970s. That is to say prior to the banning of many hazardous materials. On the Asian beaches these toxic substances are released into the environment and the workers bodies. "

It chokes me up to think the Victoria ended up contributing to this problem. She was a proud ship and didn’t disserve an end like that..

But on a positive note, the folks at Greenpeace have started a project called Operation Final Voyage. It's basically a list of ships submitted by folks like ourselves that are known to contain nasty things like asbestos and are within 5 years of retirement.

When a person submits details of such a ship to the website belowk, Greenpeace can then keep an eye on that ship and help ensure it doesn’t end up in a place like Alang.

www.greenpeaceweb.org/shipbreak/finalvoyage.asp

Cheers,

Kam.

[Low Light Mike]

Changing the ship-breaking from the way it's done now (location and labour style and environmental impact) would require a monumental change in thinking for society.

That being said, it's grassroots thinking that needs to change, and an organisation like GreenPeace can help with that grassroots change.

Today in Canada, recycling is mainstream, but it wasn't 20 years ago. That's the type of sweeping-thinking-change that needs to happen to how we see our "Throw-away" ships. I think it can be done.

[Doug]

I think the price of scrap metal will have to go up to make this all happen.

[BrianWilliams]

The price of scrap, including steel, has gone up a lot in the last few years.

But, that doesn't stop the low, low cost shipbreaker from buying and breaking hulks.

Aside from documentaries, see the excellent British TV mini series "Traffik" (1989) for a scene of shipbreaking labour, filmed on the beach near Karachi.

[BrianWilliams]

A clip from "Traffik" episode one:



The brief scene pans past a line of ships and ferries beached at the edge of the desert, and hundreds of poor Pakistanis clamouring for a day's work. It's short but effective.

(PS: the 5-hour "Traffik" was the basis for Soderbergh's US film "Traffic". The original is worth seeing.)

[YZFNick]

I did a scan of Alang on trusty Google Earth. Although there were many ferries there, I could not find the Vic/Ocoa. It's quite a place, must've been 30 miles of beach with aging hulks beached on the shore, filled with god knows what.

[Scott]

The reason a photo of the Queen of Victoria showed up in a couple newspapers (in London) and on the internet was because there was an issue about an old French? aircraft carrier heading there to be scrapped and Greenpeace and other organizations were making a big deal about it. They may have even been successful in turning it back from Alang. But there were stories about it in the news along with photos of Alang, and a fellow ferry enthusiast in London with a sharp eye spotted the ex. Queen of Victoria in one of them and sent me scan of the photo.

[Low Light Mike]

The carrier is the Clemenceau, named for the leader of France during part of WWI, and part-architect of the Treaty of Versailles (which would also make him a part-architect of the rise of National Socialism in Germany, but again I digress).

I checked Google-earth tonight, and it shows the Clemenceau at the south end of the Alang beach.

Here's a pic that I found on Google:

[Doug]

I just checked Google Earth and there must be about 40 FULL ships there...that doesn't include the ones in pieces.

[Kam]

admin said:

The reason a photo of the Queen of Victoria showed up in a couple newspapers (in London) and on the internet was because there was an issue about an old French? aircraft carrier heading there to be scrapped and Greenpeace and other organizations were making a big deal about it. They may have even been successful in turning it back from Alang. But there were stories about it in the news along with photos of Alang, and a fellow ferry enthusiast in London with a sharp eye spotted the ex. Queen of Victoria in one of them and sent me scan of the photo.

Yes, I think it was. I also had a look at google earth today and you can clearly see an aircraft carrier a little out from the shoreline. (not sure if it's at anchor or if it is just a run aground farther out)



On that same sweep i can see a white superstructure that has the bow section removed, but the rest looks as though it could be a candidate for the Victoria, but it's hard to tell.

[Barnacle]

My only skepticism on the matter is that I think the funnel's too far forward for this particular hulk to be the Vic. (Alert! Alert! I am not arguing whether or not she ended up in Alang. )

[hergfest]

Could that be the Chinook?

[Barnacle]

I was under the impression that the Chinook had already been stripped to the hull some time ago. Besides, it's missing the round dining room at the aft end... whatever it is has been pulled a substantial distance onto the beach as the hull doesn't taper off at all on the bow before we see the cut marks.

[Neil]

Greenpeace isn't very popular with many of the people toiling on the beaches at Alang. Despite what are, by our standards, horrendous working conditions, Alang workers are better off than most people in the surrounding countryside, and the level of industrial safety, and pay, is sometimes higher than a lot of other industry in India. Greenpeace's interest in Alang is seen by some as a form of cultural imperialism by wealthy westerners who don't understand, as one Alang official said, that there is not much difference between dying from pollution with Alang, or dying from starvation without. If Alang were to be 'cleaned up', chances are that most of it's work would leave, to be done in other countries even poorer, and even more desperate for the jobs. Free enterprise has no moral code. Look at the garment and shoe industry- migrating from North America to Central America, to Asia and Africa- always running to cheaper labour, and easier regulations on working conditions and environmental practises.

We should never send ships loaded with hazardous materials away for someone else to deal with. Others always will, though, and if environmentalists force expensive improvements at Alang, the cesspool will probably just move somewhere else.

[Doug]

kam said:

hornbyguy said:

Greenpeace isn't very popular with many of the people toiling on the beaches at Alang. Despite what are, by our standards, horrendous working conditions, Alang workers are better off than most people in the surrounding countryside, and the level of industrial safety, and pay, is sometimes higher than a lot of other industry in India. Greenpeace's interest in Alang is seen by some as a form of cultural imperialism by wealthy westerners who don't understand, as one Alang official said, that there is not much difference between dying from pollution with Alang, or dying from starvation without. If Alang were to be 'cleaned up', chances are that most of it's work would leave, to be done in other countries even poorer, and even more desperate for the jobs. Free enterprise has no moral code. Look at the garment and shoe industry- migrating from North America to Central America, to Asia and Africa- always running to cheaper labour, and easier regulations on working conditions and environmental practises.

We should never send ships loaded with hazardous materials away for someone else to deal with. Others always will, though, and if environmentalists force expensive improvements at Alang, the cesspool will probably just move somewhere else.

I agree with you 100%. Those ships should never be sent for scrap until they are cleaned up. And in addition, I think laws should be in place to prevent the sale of contaminated ships at all. If you own an asbestos contaminated ship you should be required by law to clean it up before you sell it off as a going concern or as scrap. I personally would be happy to pay the extra $1 on my ferry ticket to ensure our problems don’t end up in someone else’s back yard. Reality is we are the ones with the resources and funds to protect the workers in the 3'rd world countries.

And what you said about Greenpeace not being welcome, this sign from the entrance to the Alang yard should about say it all.

Life suddendly got a little more complex.

[Retrovision]

I found these interesting news stories from India:

(Found here: www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=330234&sid=REG )
Guj govt announce new policy to revive Alang shipbreaking yard

Ahmedabad, Oct 19: In an attempt to boost the sagging economy of the Alang ship breaking yard at Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, the government today announced a new policy including sops and a mandatory skilled training programme for labourers

This new policy will include a mandatory training programme for the skilled labourers that the shipbreakers will have to impart with a key focus on hazardous waste management, a government release said here.

"The workers will be trained to handle cutting torches having long nozzles, mechanised lifting instruments for loading, mechanised blower systems, using of gas detectors before entering ships and other protective gears", the release said.

Important features of the new policy include that of leasing the various plots for longer periods.

As part of the revival package the premium taken from using the plots has been reduced by 50 per cent for the first five years.

Earlier it was compulsory to break a ship weighing minimum 10,000 tonnes and a fine was imposed on those ship breakers who could not meet up with this target. However, this provision has been done away with in the new policy, the release mentioned.

If the shipbreaker or plot holder wants to renew the lease of his plot after the initial five years he has to show records of having broken ships weighing at least 10,000 tonnes, the release added.

Bureau Report
Copyright © Zee News Limited. All rights reserved
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Found here: cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=205947 )
POLICY, COMING TWO YEARS AFTER SCHEDULE, SHOULD OFFER ZERO DEVELOPMENT CHARGE, THEY SAY

GMB’s new policy offers little, say Alang ship-breakers

Express News Service

Rajkot, October 19: A DAY after the State government gave the green signal to Gujarat Maritime Board’s (GMB) policy announcing certain concession measures for the Alang ship-breaking yard, the ship-breakers have said that the new policy will hardly help them. They have now decided to make a representation.

Ship buyers, agents and breakers— all of them say that the policy which came after a long wait of two years offesr little to them. They had already registered their grievances before the GMB, when on October 1 the draft of the policy was shown to them.

The new policy calls for 50 per cent reduction in development charge of Rs 400 per square metre of the plot, reduction in breaching tariffs by Rs 8 per tonne, and cancellation of minimum requirement of breaking of at least 10,000 tonnes a year, among others. But the stakeholders say they did not expect this.

‘‘Given the bad phase the industry is passing through, only zero development charge can save more plots from closing down. Same with breaching tariffs,’’ said K Nitin, a member of Alang Ship Breakers Association.

Its president Vishu Gupta said: ‘‘This policy should have come in 2004, when the regulation of 1994 had ended. What the govenemnt has given is too little, too late.’’

Besides, the condition of a minimum breaking 2,000 tonnes of ships a year for a period of five years from 2004 has left the breakers in the lurch. More than 75 per cent of plots are not functioning at all for at least two years now.

According to the association, in 2004 the annual breaking at Alang was around 25 lakh tonnes with 100 plots, 106 re-rolling mills, 103 oxygen plants and total 40,000 employees. But in 2006, the scenario has changed.

Now, Alang’s total breaking figure is not more than four lakh tonnes with hardly 25-30 plots functioning, 30 re-rolling mills and only two oxygen plants in place. The number of employees base has gone down to mere 5,000.

Ship buyers and agents too said that the new policy would hardly help increase the business volume. ‘‘Though there is a new policy, we do not see any increase in business in coming six-seven months. The major reason being the steel prices in India are higher than that in some neighbouring countries. Due to at least a difference of $50 in steel prices, Bangladesh and Pakistan have been taking away the business from India,’’ said Sandeep Shah, a ship-buyer as well as agent.

© 2005: Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. All rights reserved throughout the world.

[Retrovision]

admin said:

The reason a photo of the Queen of Victoria showed up in a couple newspapers (in London) and on the internet was because there was an issue about an old French? aircraft carrier heading there to be scrapped and Greenpeace and other organizations were making a big deal about it. They may have even been successful in turning it back from Alang. But there were stories about it in the news along with photos of Alang, and a fellow ferry enthusiast in London with a sharp eye spotted the ex. Queen of Victoria in one of them and sent me scan of the photo.

Here's that clipping again...

[Scott]

I just finished watching a documentary called "Shipbreakers" which documents the working conditions, workers, environmental impact, industrial importance, etc. of the Alang shipyard. I was surprised to find the DVD at the Metrotown branch of the Burnaby Library. I don't know how many other libraries carry it, but if you're around Burnaby, it'll be back in a couple days:) It's actually produced by the Canadian National Film Board, so there should be copies out there somewhere. I was hoping to maybe see the Queen of Victoria in it, but I think it might have been filmed a year or two before she arrived. It's copyright 2004.

Just over 20 years ago it was a normal, unoccupied beach on the Arabian Sea. Now there are over 100 places for ships to run aground (it shows this happening three times in the documentary), and the beach is littered with ship parts and all the pollutants that go along with them. An average of one person per day dies, and there is no hospital in Alang. Pretty desperate, but as someone pointed out already, it's actually a "good" job relatively speaking - for some anyways. The economy of the whole province where Alang is located depends on the shipyard for iron and other scrap.

I'd recommend the video to anyone who's interested in this topic, and anyone who wants to know a little more about the Queen of Victoria's final days. Watching those ships sitting offshore and finally being beached, it wasn't hard to imagine the Victoria in the same situation. She would probably have been one of the smallest boats on the beach.

[Kam]

Thanks for that!

I'll keep an eye out for it on the island.

[kylefossett]

watched something on 60minutes on CBS on sunday night about shipbreaking at a place in bangledash. was rather interesting to see. keep your eyes open for a repeat episode

[Ferryman]

admin said:

I just finished watching a documentary called "Shipbreakers" which documents the working conditions, workers, environmental impact, industrial importance, etc. of the Alang shipyard. I was surprised to find the DVD at the Metrotown branch of the Burnaby Library. I don't know how many other libraries carry it, but if you're around Burnaby, it'll be back in a couple days:) It's actually produced by the Canadian National Film Board, so there should be copies out there somewhere. I was hoping to maybe see the Queen of Victoria in it, but I think it might have been filmed a year or two before she arrived. It's copyright 2004.

Just over 20 years ago it was a normal, unoccupied beach on the Arabian Sea. Now there are over 100 places for ships to run aground (it shows this happening three times in the documentary), and the beach is littered with ship parts and all the pollutants that go along with them. An average of one person per day dies, and there is no hospital in Alang. Pretty desperate, but as someone pointed out already, it's actually a "good" job relatively speaking - for some anyways. The economy of the whole province where Alang is located depends on the shipyard for iron and other scrap.

I'd recommend the video to anyone who's interested in this topic, and anyone who wants to know a little more about the Queen of Victoria's final days. Watching those ships sitting offshore and finally being beached, it wasn't hard to imagine the Victoria in the same situation. She would probably have been one of the smallest boats on the beach.

The Knowledge Network on TV has played this program a few times. They usually have it on at like 10pm, so anyone interested in seeing it will have to watch the TV listings, to see when it's on.

[Neil]

Another mini-Alang is found on Google Earth by flying to Gaddani, Pakistan, and going south along the coast to 25-04-40N. There, it appears a stern section of a freighter has either drifted away, or is stuck off shore. Just west of Chittagong, Bangladesh, is another boneyard, but the actual site is not in resolution.

[BrianWilliams]

GBN: Thanks for the heads up on the DVD at Burnaby Library. I'll look for it.

On the general subject of work vs. starvation raised in this thread - too true.

Those of you following Canada's efforts in Afghanistan will have learned of our soldiers' increasingly difficult job. The fascist Taliban banned opium poppy cultivation, then they lost power. Now they encourage it in the areas they control, with hefty taxes to their bandit brigades of course.

Our guys are caught in a bind. Burn the poppies, interdict shipments and deny Taliban the revenue (and reduce the heroin supply to Vancouver) ... but that impoverishes farmers whose kids are already starving.

Poverty in a world of richness is a terrible force.

I do recommend the British TV series TRAFFIK for a look at that issue. Though made in 1989, it is very timely.