February 11, 2005

Child labour. The Chittagong and Alang shipbreaking yards are where most of the world's commercial shipping go to die.

Chittagong accounts for most of Bangladesh's domestic steel supply, so even though working conditions are harsh and dangerous, and despite the (probable) violations of the Basel convention on the Transnational Movement of Hazardous Waste, it's doubtful that this outsourced industry is going to clean up its act anytime soon. Ships about to die are worth too much money to get sentimental, or picky about OSHA standards. A boiled egg though...... this is the painting mentioned in the last article

posted by polychrome 19 years ago
  • I'm not worried so much about the oil remnants in the tankers. I'm worried about the lead, cadmium, arsenic, PCBs and other organics in the ship paint, wiring and coolants. That stuff's much, much worse and longer lasting.
  • Don't forget the tributyl tin.
  • Thirty years ago, this would`nt have been a story,,at all. US factory workers, construction workers,, steel workers, were exposed to these type dangers everyday. The new safety standards in the US have strangled manufacturing and production and now we wonder where all the work went. I`ve--(I started to talk about ME!!) Bangladesh!! That`s all I have to say about it.
  • Awesome post. (I've always wanted to go see the ships' graveyards - the imagery from them is so eerie and unworldly.)
  • Please pardon the ignorant question but HOW do those ships stand upright on mud without tipping over?
  • Actually I was looking at "Cable Gang" where the ships look paper thin... but in "Sun and Mud" the ships look really fat and stable. It's hard to tell which is right.
  • Bril! I got an idea. Why not commondere the ships, and turn them into public housing?
  • Fantastic post polychrome. One of the sites I check regularly also has some stuff about child labour in Bangladesh, though I can't vouch for it as I mostly cover China and occasionally South-east Asia. The ILO is a good resource too of course. Their campaign on Decent Work has been quite a good starting point for a number of initiatives.
  • @crackpot: The hull of those ships is very flat at bottom, so they cannot topple over. They sink a little into the mud. The mud excerts a certain bearing strength, too. Those two factors in advance are fully sufficient for the ships orientation to be super-stable.
  • Oops. Polychrome I meant. BTW, a truely fantastic post.
  • All of this led me to a series of Pulitzer Prize-winning articles about shipbreakers. Great post, polychrome.
  • A fine post! A photographer by the name of Edward Burtynsky has pictures that add to your great links.
  • CBC's The Nature of Things aired a film about the Shipbreakers of Alang in October. Great post, polychrome!
  • Wow, thanks everyone, glad you liked it.
  • Thirty years ago, this would`nt have been a story,,at all. US factory workers, construction workers,, steel workers, were exposed to these type dangers everyday. The new safety standards in the US have strangled manufacturing and production and now we wonder where all the work went.[...] Bangladesh!! That`s all I have to say about it. Are you wishing for the old days to return retank?
  • Yes, ) ) )... also to stirfry's additional pic link. I'd love to see that winch that pulls the ships in... it must be one huge mother.
  • Polychrome: wonderful links. Too bad the USA can't be responsible for our own messes and have to send them elsewhere for others to clean up (and die trying) although this will probably bite us in the a** anyway, since the pollution is dumped into the ocean to affect us all.
  • Truly, this is a post for the ages. 'Nanas on a golden platter are profferred.
  • proffered. (But apparently not proofread)
  • Why not commondere the ships, and turn them into public housing? I believe its because A) more money can be made from cutting them up and selling them piecemeal and B) most of these ships would require a great deal of refurbishing to make them liveable.
  • Recall going overseas, Halifax to Manchester, shortly after V-E day, and the smell of the bilges belowdecks impressed itself very powerfully on my nose and mind. Under no circumstances whatsoever would ye want to live on such a ship, because the vessel was permeated with a heady mingling of cleansaing fluids, vomit, and smells of boiled cabbage and other viands from the galley. Thirty years later, I boarded a British naval vessel in South America, and to my amazement the smell was almost identical, bringing with it a rush of memories.
  • Good lord, you're intriguing, young bees!
  • A photographer by the name of Edward Burtynsky has pictures that add to your great links. Burtynsky's work is amazing. There's more on his website and he's working with Worldchanging.
  • Inside the Shipbreaking Yards of Chittagong Proposed EU rules on disposal of Europe registered vessels would require high standards of health and environmental compliance.