Treehugger - Latest Comments in End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

Jake — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 12:20:53 -0000

Recylcling these ships is great but that is not the reason they are being sent to Bangladesh and India. It is so the ship owners can avoid the cost of decontaminating and safely disposing the vessels.

These cost are more than the scrap value of the ship unless you are able to ignore most of the environmental and safety issues.

These operations put the environment and a vast number of workers at risk. It is just shifting the costs from the ship operator to a part of the world they don't care about. Check out www.greenpeaceweb.org/shipb... for some examples of the most toxic ships the west has tried to dump in the area.

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

Tim Russell — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 10:20:09 -0000

On the Discovery Times channel they played a hour long, I think Canadian produced, program about shipbreaking. It covered the polution from the operation, the conditions the workers put up with and the accidents. One worker was injured when he cut into a fuel pipe that was not drained. With them beaching ships under their own power (shown in the program) the fuel and lube oil is drained, probably in a non-enviromentaly friendly way, after the ship is beached.

I remember them saying that not much shipbreaking takes place in North America due to environmental regulations.

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

Tan The Man — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 19:42:39 -0000

That's pretty amazing. I'm glad most of everything gets recycled and reused.

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

Lloyd Alter — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 08:27:25 -0000

We covered William Langewiesche's The Outlaw Sea, which expanded on the Atlantic articles, here definitely worth reading.

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

James — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 06:08:08 -0000

If they set safety standards for protective clothing etc I think this could be a good thing.

Provides income for a poor country and recycles ships that would otherwise be sank.

I think the ship builders should pay for the costs of implementing safer working practices.

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

Quentin Andrews Parker — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:27:19 -0000

I would refer readers to the initial story by author William Langewiesche whose compassionate and thoughtful article "The Shipbreakers" was published in The Atlantic Magazine several years back.

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

Jenn — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 21:21:36 -0000

Besides exposing workers to potentially hazardous substances, ship salvaging is also a potential vector for invasive species - especially with hull fouling on old/neglected ships. When I read that Bangladesh gets cargo ships from all over the world - yikes!

There is a company looking to set up a scrap and salvage operation in Oregon using old National Defense Reserve ships (though presumably the workers will at least be wearing shoes). You can read more about the invasive species angle of that project here.

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

Travis — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 20:54:43 -0000

Can I get a shoutout to Foreign Policy magazine for publishing this photoessay?

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

Alison — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 20:38:01 -0000

It is certainly a better option than just sinking them in the bay of some poor country. Something Japan has practiced in the past in Madagascar, resulting in multiple bays with toxic rusting ships just sitting around looking like frightening ship wrecks.

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

lara — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 19:15:02 -0000

Lloyd - good suggestion, those are some amazing pictures too.

Amy - I'd never thought about it either, it is quite amazing.

Thanks,

Lara

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

MGR — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 18:57:23 -0000

You're welcome, Amy.

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

Amy — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 18:42:34 -0000

Thanks for posting about this. How amazing. I've never thought about where old ships go. What a strange and complicated notion, shipbreaking.

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

John R — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 16:44:02 -0000

you might have seen in at bldgblog;

http://bldgblog.blogspot.co...

Re: End of the Line - Where Giant Ships Go When they Die

Lloyd Alter — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 16:25:57 -0000

Also be sure to look at Edward Burtynsky's amazing pictures at his site