Scrapping yards near Chittagong

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Coordinates: 22 ° 26 ′ 31.7 ″  N , 91 ° 44 ′ 1 ″  E

Map: Bangladesh
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Scrapping yards near Chittagong​
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Bangladesh
Scrapping near Chittagong
Scrapping near Chittagong

The dismantling yards at Chittagong are located on a seven- kilometer stretch of beach at Faujdarhat, about 15 kilometers northwest of Chittagong . They form the center of the scrapping industry in Bangladesh .

Economic importance of the location

This industry developed there in 1969. Over 70 companies reside between Bhatiara and Sitakunda. About 150,000 people live directly from ship scrapping. Approximately 30 to 40 percent of the approximately 700 ocean-going ships decommissioned around the world are currently dismantled. Revenue in 2009 is to a sum equivalent to about 700 million US dollars estimated. Much from the ships is sold in or near Chittagong, for example doors, kitchen equipment or beds.

Occupational safety and environmental conditions

The low wages, inadequate work safety and poor environmental protection have met with massive criticism. In the years from 1990 to 2010 there were around 1,000 fatalities, currently more than 20 deaths per year. In December 2009, four workers died in an explosion during the dismantling of the Agate . Workers are exposed to asbestos , heavy metals , oil residues , TBT , PCB and mixtures of toxic substances.

Personal protective equipment is usually not available or not available in sufficient quantities. There are seldom fine dust masks, no respiratory protection for handling asbestos, no protective goggles and safety shoes. Most people work barefoot in the muddy area, which is why injuries often occur as sharp pieces of metal are overlooked in the mud floor. Most recently, protective helmets were issued for some workers in the better companies. Most employees have work-related illnesses. Technical aids are almost not available at all. There are motor-operated winches with which you can pull the wrecks further into the dry after they have run aground in spring tide . Heavy metal plates separated from the ship are mostly transported by hand, which means enormous physical stress for the worker. Child labor is not officially tolerated. It happens that twelve year olds from families at risk of poverty work in the shipyards.

In the media

The environmental situation and the working conditions are presented in the documentary Eisenfresser by Shaheen Dill-Riaz from 2007. The attorney Rizwana Hasan sued the scrapping for environmental reasons and was awarded the $ 150,000 Goldman Environmental Prize in the USA in 2009 . A documentary produced by Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln under the title Grave Digger of Ships - Abwracken in Bangladesh was broadcast on Phoenix's program.

Examples of wrecked ships

Web links

Commons : Chittagong scrapping yards  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Scrapping remains cheap. In: Junge Welt , March 3, 2010 ( online )
  2. ↑ Ship Breaking in Bangladesh ( Memento from August 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ^ Four killed in Chittagong ship-breaking yard blast. In: The Financial Express , December 26, 2009 ( online )
  4. ^ Occupational Health Hazards of Ship Scrapping Workers at Chittagong Coastal Zone, Bangladesh
  5. ↑ Thomas Klingenmaier: Mud, scorn and robbery. In: Stuttgarter Zeitung, June 12, 2008 ( online ( Memento from June 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive )).
  6. ^ Daniel Sander: Exploitation in Bangladesh. Heartbeat of steel. In: Spiegel Online , June 12, 2008 ( online ).
  7. ↑ Joachim Hoelzgen: Curse of the heavy pots. In: Spiegel Online , May 16, 2009 ( online ).