Ship Breaking Yards: A Threat to Coastal Environment of Bangladesh. Hasan M. Abdullah M Golam Mahboob Ahmad al Biruni Gifu University, Japan

Transcription

1 Ship Breaking Yards: A Threat to Coastal Environment of Bangladesh Hasan M. Abdullah M Golam Mahboob Ahmad al Biruni Gifu University, Japan 1

2 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

3 Pros and cons of ship breaking 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 3

4 Shipbreaking in the world 1960s: UK & USA 1980s: Korea, Taiwan 1990: Bangladesh, India, China, Pakistan Shipbreaking in Bangladesh Starts with a cyclone driven ship in 1970 Starts commercially 1990s 4

5 Terminology 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 5

6 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

7 Study Area 7

8 Data used 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 8

9 Result and discussion 9

10 Ship recycling volumes (LDT) by countries during

11 Amount of LDT recycled by countries in different years 11

12 Global phase out scenario of single hulled oil tankers 12

13 Global ship breaking statistics for the year 2010 Breaker Units LDT Average LDT/Ship Bangladesh 107 1,246,306 11, India 466 3,306,642 7, China 191 1,502,108 7, Pakistan 112 1,004,354 8, Turkey ,533 1, Others ,517 2, Total ,767,460 6,

14 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 15

16 Areal information of negatively impacted area Year Area (ha) Length (km)

17 Landuse and cover in Sitakunda coast

18 Degradation of coastal land due to ship recycling Destruction of forest for new shipbreaking yard November 19, 2008 April 09, 2009 Image source: Google Earth 18

19 Pollutants in the recyclable ship Pollutant Asbestos Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) Lead Excess noise Fire Radioactive isotopes Others Materials containing pollutant Hanger liners, mastic under insulation, cloth over insulation, cable, lagging and insulation on pipes and hull, adhesive. Rubber products such as hoses, plastic foam insulation, cables, silver paint, and habitability paint. Lead and chromate paint, lead ballast, batteries, generators, and motor components. With grinding, hammering, metal cutting, and other activities. Ignited insulation, matting, lagging, and residual fuel; and from lubricants and other flammable liquids. 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K Heavy metals in ship transducers, ballast, and paint coatings; mercury in fluorescent light tubes, thermometers, electrical switches, light fittings, fire detectors Source: Hossain et al., 2010; Demaria, 2010; Hossain & Islam, 2004; Islam & Hossain, 1986; Zhijie,

20 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

21 Thank You 21