Ship breaking or ship demolition involves breaking up of ships for scrap. Italian Full rigged ship Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor, 1976 A ship is a large watercraft capable of offshore navigation. ... A breakers yard in the UK, showing cars stacked on a metal grid to make it easier to find and remove usable parts. ...

Ship breaking in Bangladesh

Ship breaking in Bangladesh

Until the late twentieth century, ship breaking took place in port cities in the "First World," including the United States. Today, however, most ship breaking yards are in developing nations, principally Bangladesh, China, and India, due to lower labor costs and less stringent environmental regulations dealing with the disposal of lead paint and other toxic substances. However, there are a few "breakers" in the United States that still operate. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1680x1180, 197 KB) shipbreaking in bangladesh near chittagong File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Recycling Ship breaking ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1680x1180, 197 KB) shipbreaking in bangladesh near chittagong File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Recycling Ship breaking ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1779x1191, 190 KB) shipbreaking near chittagong in bangladesh File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Recycling Ship breaking ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1779x1191, 190 KB) shipbreaking near chittagong in bangladesh File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Recycling Ship breaking ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... A developing country is a country with low average income compared to the world average. ...

Ship breaking is a type of recycling. Most ships have a life-span of a few decades before there is too much wear to make refit and repair practical. Ship breaking allows for materials from the ship, especially steel, to be given a new life in a new vessel. This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ...

In addition to steel and otherwise useful materials however, many ships (particularly older ships) can contain many substances now banned or considered dangerous. A typical common example of one of these substances is asbestos. Asbestos was used heavily in the shipping world until it was finally banned in most of the developed world in the mid 1980's. Nowadays, the costs associated with removing asbestos, along with the potentially expensive insurance and health risks have meant that ship-breaking in much of the western world is no longer economically viable. The cost of actually removing the metal for scrap can potentially cost more than the scrap value of the metal itself. In the developing world however, shipyards can operate without the risk of being sued for injury or health complications by the workers, meaning lots of these shipyards operate with extremely dangerous health risks. No protective equipment is provided, which among many other things, means dangerous vapours from burning materials are frequently inhaled and dusty asbestos laden areas are commonplace. Fibrous asbestos on muscovite Asbestos Asbestos Blue asbestos (crocidolite) from Wittenoom, Western Australia. ...

Aside from the health of the yard workers, in recent years, ship breaking has also become an issue of major environmental concern. Many ship breaking yards in developing nations have lax or no environmental controls, enabling large quantities of highly toxic materials to escape into the environment and causing serious health problems among wildlife, shipbreakers and the local population. Environmental campaign groups such as Greenpeace have made the issue a high priority for their campaigns. ^[1] Greenpeace protest against Esso / Exxon Mobil. ...

Currently, many ships are also sunk to make artificial reefs after being cleaned up. A ship that has been scrapped is sometimes colloquially said to be "made into razor blades." Construction in place of an artificial reef from hollow tile blocks Ship about to be scuttled to act as an Artificial Reef An artificial reef is a man-made, underwater structure, typically built for the purpose of promoting marine life in areas of generally featureless bottom. ... Occams Razor or Hanlons razor A razor is a an edge tool (primarily, used in shaving). ...

See also

• Alang
• Chittagong
• Gaddani

Safety is our motto reads this welcome sign at Alang, a statement heavily criticized Alang is a coastal town in the State of Gujarat in India. ... This article is about Chittagong as a city in Bangladesh. ... Gaddani Ship-breaking Yard, is located in Gaddani, Lasbela District, Balochistan, Pakistan. ...

References

1. ^ Shipbreaking, Greenpeace, accessed 8.11.06

External reading

• End of the Line a photo essay on the ship breaking yards of Chittagong, Bangladesh by Brendan Corr
• Google satellite images of Alang Ship Breaking Yards
• 1998 Pulitzer prize winning Baltimore Sun investigative reporting series on the shipbreaking industry in Alang
• NPR host Alex Chadwick talks with Will Englund of the Baltimore Sun about a series of articles he co-wrote about the shipbreaking industry
• ILO publication on shipbreaking
• "The Outlaw Sea: Chaos and Crime on the World's Oceans". William Langewiesche, 2004, London: Granta Books. Contains an extensive section on the shipbreaking industry in India and Bangladesh.
• www.claudiocambon.com - contains a photo essay about the last voyage, demolition, and recycling of an American merchant ship in Chittagong, Bangladesh done in 1998 by documentary photographer Claudio Cambon. Some of the photographs from this series illustrated William Langewiesche's original article about shipbreaking in the August 2000 Atlantic Monthly.
• www.TheSchoolOfThought.com - contains one traveler's account of visiting the shipbreaking yards of Chittagong.

http://www.imfmetal.org/main/files/06042810465779/Shipbreaking_survey.pdf contains survey of Shipbreaking workers in India This article is about Chittagong as a city in Bangladesh. ...

This article needs to be wikified. ... The ceremonies involved in commissioning ships into a military force are based in traditions thousands of years old. ... To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. ... A reserve fleet or (less formally) mothball fleet is a collection of naval vessels that are fully equipped for fighting but are not currently needed. ... The Ship/Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) is the process the United States Navy uses to dispose of decommissioned nuclear vessels. ... German battlecruiser Derfflinger scuttled at Scapa Flow. ... A M4 Carbine is in the forground and the M16A2 in the background in the hands of these two Marines during a live fire exercise in 2003 A live fire exercise is any exercise in which a realistic scenario for the use of specific equipment is simulated. ... USS Wisconsin, one of three Iowa class battleships opened to the public as a museum, and was one of two Iowas maintained in the US Mothball fleet. ...