Ship Breaking Yards: A Threat to Coastal
Environment of Bangladesh
Hasan M. Abdullah
M Golam Mahboob
Ahmad al Biruni
Gifu University, Japan
1
Background
More than 80% of international trade in goods by
volume is carried by sea. Ocean-going ships are
owned and used for trade and are often
demolished, together with their toxic materials, in
developing countries.
Ship breaking is the process of dismantling an
obsolete vessel's structure for scrapping or
disposal.
Ship owners and ship breakers obtain large profits
by dumping the environmental costs on workers,
local farmers and fishers.2
Pros-
Supply cheaper steel: 80-90% of domestic demand
Materials recycling: saves nonrenewable resources
Government revenue: 9000 million BDT/ year
Employment generation: 20,000 people
Cons-
Huge environmental degradation
Violation of occupational health, safety and work
environment
Child labor
Pros and cons of ship breaking
3
Shipbreaking in the world
• 1960s: UK & USA
• 1980s: Korea, Taiwan
• 1990: Bangladesh, India, China, Pakistan
4
Shipbreaking in Bangladesh
• Starts with a cyclone driven ship in 1970
• Starts commercially 1990s
Deadweight tonnage (DWT) is a measure of how much weight
a ship is carrying or can safely carry. It is the sum of the
weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions,
passengers, and crew.
Light displacement ton (LDT) the weight of a ship without
anything on board, used to determine the value of a ship
which is to be scrapped
Green recycling is ideally defined as scrapping performed in
full accordance with the developed recycling guidelines.
Basel convention to "Control the Transboundary Movements
of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal”
Terminology
5
Process of ship break down
1. Journey to the shore : The ship blows its sharp whistle for a
last time. It puts its engine on full speed and heads for the
land, wailing and groaning as it reaches a speed that it would
never have dared risk at sea. Its steel hull scrapes the sand,
reaching into the earth from where it came . Then it stops,
grounded, on the end of its final charge, its last journey… -
Sebastiao Salgado
2. Removing the furniture and other goods from the ship
3. Cut into pieces for rerolling iron mills.
6
Study Area
7
8
Landsat imagery
Landsat 5 TM
• January 05, 1989,
• December 19, 1999
• January 23, 2010
Secondary data collection
• Clarkson's ship register,
• Lloyd’s ship register
• Monthly shipbreaking report of Cotzias group,
• DoE report on Coastal and marine environment of Bangladesh
• Published reports in media and scientific journals
Remote sensing image classification
Object based supervised classification was performed
Data used
Result and discussion
9
Ship recycling volumes (LDT) by countries during 1994-2009
10
Amount of LDT recycled by countries in different years
11
Global phase out scenario of single hulled oil tankers
12
Global ship breaking statistics for the year 2010
Breaker Units LDT Average
LDT/Ship
Bangladesh 107 1,246,306 11,647.72
India 466 3,306,642 7,095.80
China 191 1,502,108 7,864.44
Pakistan 112 1,004,354 8,967.44
Turkey 211 277,533 1,315.32
Others 169 430,517 2,547.44
Total 1256 7,767,460 6,184.28
13
Existing Global Green Recycling capacity
Country Existing green recycling
capacity LDT/year
Italy 80,000
Belgium 120,000
Holland 30,000
China 550,000
USA NA
Total 780,000
14
15
Expansion of shipbreaking yard in last two decades observed from
Landsat TM imagery
Areal information of negatively impacted area
Year Area (ha) Length (km)
1989 367 3.45
1999 890 6.95
2010 1500 12.78
16
1989 2010
Landuse and cover in Sitakunda coast
17
18
Degradation of coastal land due to ship recycling
Image source: Google Earth
November 19, 2008
April 09, 2009
Destruction of forest for new shipbreaking yard
Pollutant Materials containing pollutant
Asbestos Hanger liners, mastic under insulation, cloth over insulation,
cable, lagging and insulation on pipes and hull, adhesive.
Polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs)
Rubber products such as hoses, plastic foam insulation,
cables, silver paint, and habitability paint.
Lead Lead and chromate paint, lead ballast, batteries, generators,
and motor components.
Excess noise With grinding, hammering, metal cutting, and other activities.
Fire Ignited insulation, matting, lagging, and residual fuel; and
from lubricants and other flammable liquids.
Radioactive isotopes 226Ra, 232Th and 40K
Others Heavy metals in ship transducers, ballast, and paint coatings;
mercury in fluorescent light tubes, thermometers, electrical
switches, light fittings, fire detectors
19
Pollutants in the recyclable ship
Source: Hossain et al., 2010; Demaria, 2010; Hossain & Islam, 2004; Islam & Hossain, 1986; Zhijie, 1988
Conclusion
Coastal environment of Bangladesh has been degraded horribly
due to reckless shipbreaking activities
This sector has strength and potential to stand as a viable industry
and contribute more to our economy
This business should be brought under strict rules and regulations
to be operated taking care of the environment and occupational
safety
All coastal activities should be monitored to save ecosystem and
Remote Sensing tools can be exploited for convenience
Further study can be conducted to develop an efficient coastal
environment monitoring system using high spectral and spatial
resolution remote sensing imagery supported with in situ sampling
20
Thank You ……
21