The country’s ship breaking industry produced some 2.1 million tonne of scrap steel worth about one billion dollar (US$ 945 million) during the last eight months since January this year. The industry dismantled some 206 abandoned ships, mostly procured from abroad, to generate the scrap steel, the prime raw material for the country’s re-rolling mills. This is the highest number of recycling ships dismantled during the last two years when the industry saw many ups and downs due to legal complexities. “But now it is on the track,” said Captain Salah Uddin Ahmed, technical adviser of Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association, adding the ship-breaking sector is vital to the economy as it supplies the much-needed steel and iron to the domestic market.
According to sources, most of the local demand for iron rod, an important construction component is met by the scrapped iron from this industry. Bangladeshi Ship breaking industry’s supply of scrap iron to the steel mills alone substitutes import of about 30 tonnes of billets and other raw materials. At the peak of business a few years ago at shipyards in Sitakunda, described as the graveyard of ships, more than 200 ships were dismantled a year. In 2010, due to court restrictions only 19 vessels were broken. In the face of protest and obeying the court order, the government had suspended import of recyclable ships for about a year.
Later, the government introduced new rules for ship breaking and formed a Ship Breaking Cell at the Ministry of Industries to implement the rules.
However, last year, courts lifted the ban on the import of ships until government ministries formulate detailed guidelines for the ship-breaking sector. That has seen business pick up pace again, with 150 ships dismantled in 2011.
Some 206 ships have already been broken in the first eight months of 2012. “The business is back on track and we are expecting more ships,” said Captain Salah Uddin Ahmed.
The industry is worth around $1b (£640m) and shipyard-owners say the sector employs nearly 200,000 workers. Ship-breaking yard owners claim they provide nearly 60 per cent of the country’s total steel demand.
With the boom in the construction sector in the country, there is a growing demand for iron and steel. They say the steel from the dismantled ships is also used by the country’s ship-building industry.
The industry is hoping to extract around three million tonnes of steel from the broken ships by the end of this year.
Shipyard owners argue that apart from contributing steel to the domestic industry, many parts of a ship such as propellers, generators and engines are reused or recycled. Every bit of the ship is recycled, reused and resold. Nothing goes to waste. Usually a ship needs nearly 3-6 months to be dismantled. Initially oils, toxic sludges and other wastes are pumped out.
The cable, the steel, the generators, funnels, propellers, lifeboats, companionways, sinks, toilets, even the light bulbs and every nut and bolt of the ship are dismantled and sold. The ships sold are turned into construction materials, girders, metal sheets and furniture. The sheet metals are used for riverboats and coastal craft.
Environmental groups argue that many of these ageing ships are not cleaned properly before they are brought to the shores.
They say many of these
vessels contain hazardous materials like asbestos and toxic chemicals.
Despite objections by environmentalists, more ships are expected to be brought to countries like Bangladesh, as it’s too expensive to get rid of unwanted vessels in developed countries. Bangladesh’s unique geography is also another reason why ageing ships are taken to the beaches there. The unique tide pattern makes it easy to ground the ship during occasional tides. The other leading countries in the ship-breaking business are India, Pakistan, Turkey and China. With their abundance of cheap labour, these countries control the global ship-breaking sector.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
