None of the yards in Bangladesh have been approved by the EU commission audit. Additionally, as of December 31, 2018, the EU required all EU-flagged ships to be recycled at an EU-approved facility that is regularly and independently audited for compliance with standards on environmental protection and workers’ safety. The European Union Waste Shipment Regulation (EUWSR) prohibits the shipment of waste-including end-of-life ships like the Max-from EU waters to non-OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries like Bangladesh. The Max should have been subject to European Union (EU) regulations regarding the disposal of end-of-life ships. As one Bangladeshi activist said, “There are legal regulations, but there are also loopholes.” Instead, they have simply found ways to circumvent regulations and avoid culpability. Yet neither international law nor repeated injuries and deaths of workers have deterred many shipping companies from dumping their ships in Bangladesh. International and regional laws prohibit the export of ships to places like the yards in Bangladesh that do not have adequate environmental or labor protections to prevent accidents like the one that injured Biplob. and never should have been in Bangladesh in the first place. The Max was previously owned by Greek shipping company Tide Line Inc. But Biplob said the owner of the Max should also be held responsible. Arefin Enterprise paid for Biplob’s 8-day emergency treatment and about US$160 in compensation-far less than the nearly $2,000 he was owed under Bangladesh law. For instance, he said nobody checked the pipe, which had apparently been full of octane, to see whether it was “gas-free for hot work” as is required by Bangladesh law. Biplob explained that some regulations that could have prevented his injury were not followed. However, the industry in Bangladesh is highly dangerous and unregulated. More than half of the steel used in Bangladesh comes from ships broken down in Chattogram. Shipbreaking is an extremely lucrative industry for Bangladesh, contributing an estimated $2 billion to the country’s economy. Companies like Arefin Enterprise purchase end-of-life ships, take them apart, and sell the metal and other materials after the ship is dismantled. Biplob’s family sold all their land to pay for his continued medical treatment and he now runs a tea stall to support them.Īrefin Enterprise is just one of about 30 yards currently actively operating in Bangladesh where workers break down the world’s ships once they are no longer seaworthy. He said at the time he could see what was happening but couldn’t speak. He lost consciousness, only becoming alert when he realized his coworkers were carrying him to the road. Biplob said the explosion threw him against the wall, severely burning his face and breaking his back. On August 23, he was torching through a pipe in the engine room when it suddenly exploded. In the summer of 2021, Mohammed Biplob, 35, was working at Arefin Enterprise, a shipyard in Chattogram Bangladesh, dismantling a 24-year-old bulk carrier ship called the Max. © 2023 Anukta Ships are broken down directly on the beach in Bangladesh, meaning toxic pollutants are released directly into the sea, land, and air. © 2023 Anukta Shipbreaking workers in Bangladesh are at high risk of injury or death, especially when working in confined spaces and authorities fail to adequately identify flammable substances before the ship is broken apart. © Anukta Shipbreaking workers cut through steel inside a confined space © 2023 Anukta Shipbreaking workers wade in the water to collect remnants of a broken ship. © 2023 Anukta A shipbreaking worker balances on the ledge of a ship to torch through the steel. Many workers die and are injured in explosions and falling from high heights. © 2023 Anukta Because ships are broken apart on the beach, workers perform dangerous jobs without adequate structures for safe disassembly. © 2023 Anukta Shipbreaking workers in Bangladesh are not provided with adequate space to safely take rest during 12-hour shifts. © 2023 Anukta Shipbreaking workers clearing sludge from a ship. © 2023 Anukta Shipbreaking workers in Bangladesh are not provided with adequate protective equipment, training, or tools to safely do their jobs. Workers described using their own socks as gloves to avoid burning their hands as they cut through molten steel, wrapping their shirts around their mouths to avoid inhaling toxic fumes, and carrying chunks of steel while barefoot. Shipbreaking workers in Bangladesh are not provided with adequate protective equipment, training, or tools to safely do their jobs.
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