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9 March, 2000With emerging international norms for ship recycling, Indian shipbreakers are beginning to feel the heat.
INDIA: An Indian newspaper, The Hindu, reports that the Alang shipbreaking yard, which is the largest in the world, has been told to clean up its act with regard to the safety of its personnel and environmental standards. The recommendation comes from a wide sprectrum of allied sectors which have told the Alang shipbreakers they would have to comply with emerging international norms in "ship recycling" -- as opposed to "shipbreaking", a term which is still in use. Up to now, there has been almost non-existent control of the yard.
Organisations such as the International Chamber of Shipping, UK, and leading shipbroker Eckhardt Marine GmbH, Germany, as well as Greenpeace International and the Basel Action Network have made such demands at an international workshop in Alang/Bhavnagar. The meeting was organised by the government's Development Commissioner for Iron and Steel, the Gujarat Maritime Board and the local shipbreakers' associations.
The Alang yard, with approximately 25,000 workers, accounted for three million tonnes of recycled steel during 1998-99 and about 70 per cent of the world trade. Although state officials have put the number of deaths from workplace accidents at 26 for 1998-99, Greenpeace stated that deaths caused from exposure to toxic material had not been included, and the real figure was about 300 for this period.
Government representatives attending the workshop are reported to have given their assurance of "full government assistance to ensure a safe environment for the shipbreaking industry."
The IMF Shipbuilding Department Working Group visited shipbreaking sites in Alang, Sosiya and Mumbai, as well as the nearby scrap-handling yards and re-rolling mills in Bhavnagar last December, as part of a campaign to secure better working conditions and trade union rights in this sector.
Organisations such as the International Chamber of Shipping, UK, and leading shipbroker Eckhardt Marine GmbH, Germany, as well as Greenpeace International and the Basel Action Network have made such demands at an international workshop in Alang/Bhavnagar. The meeting was organised by the government's Development Commissioner for Iron and Steel, the Gujarat Maritime Board and the local shipbreakers' associations.
The Alang yard, with approximately 25,000 workers, accounted for three million tonnes of recycled steel during 1998-99 and about 70 per cent of the world trade. Although state officials have put the number of deaths from workplace accidents at 26 for 1998-99, Greenpeace stated that deaths caused from exposure to toxic material had not been included, and the real figure was about 300 for this period.
Government representatives attending the workshop are reported to have given their assurance of "full government assistance to ensure a safe environment for the shipbreaking industry."
The IMF Shipbuilding Department Working Group visited shipbreaking sites in Alang, Sosiya and Mumbai, as well as the nearby scrap-handling yards and re-rolling mills in Bhavnagar last December, as part of a campaign to secure better working conditions and trade union rights in this sector.