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Yearly ceremony in honour of dead shipbreaking workers
highlights safety concerns
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At least 15 workers died in 2012 on or around end-of-life
ships that were beached in Bangladesh for breaking, according to data gathered
by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a global coalition of 18 human rights, labour
rights and environmental organisations. Every year, shipbreaking workers in
Chittagong, Bangladesh, honour the people who died while working on the
dismantling of end-of-life ships by holding a candle ceremony attended by the
workers, their families, trade unions and local NGOs.
One of the honoured workers is 16-year-old Khorshed Alam,
who was crushed to death on July 17 when a metal plate fell on him. The boy had
left school to start working in the yards and support his family. He worked a
12-hour night shift at the SRS shipbreaking yard in Chittagong for 25 USD cents
an hour, or just under 3 USD per day. Last year, 15 shipbreaking workers had
died in Bangladesh, while 12 died in 2010.
“The causes of accidents in the yards are manyfold: the lack
of workers‘ training, the absence of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the
lack of skilled supervisors such as marine engineers, the risky manual process
of cutting and loading, the lack of compliance with and respect of the law, and
the beaching method,“ says Muhammad Ali Shahin, the Platform’s Project
coordinator in Bangladesh. “Only by enforcing the law on workers safety and by
pre-cleaning ships will move shipbreaking away from the beaches and prevent
these dramatic deaths.“
The real number of casualties and severe accidents is
unknown as the incidents are not documented properly. Also, later illnesses and
deaths caused by the exposure to toxics are even more difficult to track as
workers are often not registered and migrate within the country.
With India and Pakistan, Bangladesh is home to one of the
world’s largest and most dangerous shipbreaking industries. Every year, out of
about 1,000 ocean-going ships sold for recycling, 70% end up on the beaches of
South Asia, where they are cut by thousands of poorly trained and equipped
workers using blow torches. Shipbreaking workers are exposed daily to toxic
fumes, the risk of falling from the ship or being crushed by a falling plate.
In 2011, the government of Bangladesh closed the beaches of Chittagong for a
few months following a series of deadly accidents.
“Shipbreaking remains one of the most dangerous jobs
worldwide,” says Patrizia Heidegger, Executive Director of the NGO Shipbreaking
Platform, “even if there have been some slight improvements on the ground, the
number of deaths, accidents and illnesses in the shipbreaking yards remains
alarmingly high. We call upon the shipowning and the shipbreaking countries to
make these jobs safe and clean, both for the workers and the environment.”
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform is currently working with the
European Parliament and the European Council to strengthen an upcoming EU
regulation on ship recycling. About 40% of the world’s commercial fleet is
owned by EU-based shipowners, therefore making the EU an important player to
bring change to the shipbreaking issue.
Source: shipbreakingplatform. 1 January 2013
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