Ship demolition demands concrete actions from theright authorities to assure that workers' occupational health & safety and environmental conditions are not at all compromised. In addition to increasing ship recycling capacity, it is important to have strategic planning to reduce occupational risks as well as ecological consequences. It is vital to make a note that
recycling obsolete ships is an economic activity providing livelihood to many
people. Also, it meets the nation’s domestic steel demand. India also has one
of the biggest ship demolitionoperations, dismantling end-of-life vessels to collect various kinds of scraps and tools for recycling and reuse. These ship recycling yards are responsible
for a good proportion of vessels to be recycled globally and employ workers in
the large amount.
Economic and ecological benefits of ship dismantling-
India had overtaken many other nations' steel manufacturingindustries and it has also ranks amongst top 3 steel producers in the world. About 1%-2% of the total steel demand of Indian is met by Steel obtained from Ship Recycling in India. Approximately 90% of the vessel’s LDT is steel consisting of melting steel and re-rollable steel. Thus, it would be noted that shiprecycling plays an important role in accomplishing a circular economy by reusingmaterials and lessening the depletion of the resource.
Occupational & health risks-
The ship dismantlingsector is an economic driver for our country but involves occupational risks and environmental consequences due to hazardous materials onboard the ship /
vessel. Obsolete vessels are considered hazardous waste under international laws
because ships / vessels contain different types of hazardous materials which
need to be treated carefully with proper downstream waste facilities.
The waste produced by the ship dismantling industries can befurther classified into 2 types that are- toxic and non-toxic materials that are collectively ranging between 0.5 to 5% of the overall weight of the vessel.
Toxic waste involves contaminants like lead batteries, TBT,PCBs, ozone-depleting substances, asbestos, and polychlorinated biphenyls. All of these could cause risks to the marine environment and occupational health and safety of the workers in the ship demolition process if they are not handled properly.
Health risks-
Moreover, the workers engaged in the hot works and otheractivities of the ship breaking are prone to accidents also. The workers who are handling asbestos arevulnerable to risk exposure that can cause diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis that may manifest after a timeframe of 15 years post contact if not handled properly but with right Personal Protective Equipment and correct dismantling equipment & process, such risk to workers’ health are avoided. The asbestos-related work is also managed by licensed contractors. A number of
workforces may get exposed to hidden asbestos-containing material at the time of ship recyclingactivity if such hazardous materials are not identified and handled properly.
