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Alang Ship Breaking Yard

The Alang Ship Breaking Yard is the world's largest ship breaking yard, responsible for dismantling a significant number of retired freight and cargo ships salvaged from around the world.[1][2] It is located on the Gulf of Khambhat by the town of Alang, in the district of Bhavnagar in the state of Gujarat, India.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Satellite image of ships beached at the Alang Ship Breaking Yard

Since its establishment in 1983,[10] the shipyard is believed to have acquired a total of US$110.6 billion in aggregate value, including total assets. Its growth has prompted its extension northeast towards Sosiya in Gujarat, and it's now often referred to as the Alang-Sosiya Yard.[11][12]

Salvaging

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Removing steel plates from a ship using cranes

The Alang facility consists of 183 ship breaking yards along 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) of coast that total 4.5 million Light Displacement Tonnage (LDT) of capacity.[13]

Large super-tankers, car ferries, container ships, and a dwindling number of ocean liners are beached on the mud flats during high tide. As the tide recedes, manual labourers move onto the beach to dismantle each ship, salvaging what they can and reducing the rest to scrap.[14]

The first ship broken down at Alang, MV Kota Tenjong, was beached on 13 February 1983.[15] Alang's processing volume peaked between 2011 and 2012 at 415 vessels per year, and has been declining since. In 2020, Alang Ship Breaking Yard recycled 196 ships.[16]

Ongoing upgrade plans

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The governments of Japan and Gujarat signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2010, which focused on technology transfer and financial assistance from Japan to upgrade the yard's operations to meet international standards.[17][18] The project aimed to make Alang the largest International Maritime Organization-compliant ship recycling yard in the world. This evolved as part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, an international industrial development project supported by the governments of India and Japan and carried out as a public-private partnership.[citation needed]

Improvement efforts started in 2017, with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency providing a soft loan of $76 million and the Gujarati Maritime Board providing $35 million toward improvements.[19]

Notable ships scrapped

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In 2004, Regal V, famous for a deadly fire in 1990 when she was known as Scandinavian Star, was broken up at Alang.

On 31 December 2005, the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau left Toulon to be dismantled in Alang, despite protests about improper disposal and mismanagement of toxic waste at the facility.[20] In January 2006, the Supreme Court of India temporarily prohibited the Clemenceau from entering the port.[21] Attempts to reach a settlement were unsuccessful, and Clemenceau was sent to a ship-breaking harbour in Britain instead. On 15 January, a court ruling by France's Conseil d'État ordered Clemenceau to return to French waters.[22] Shortly after, Able UK, based at the Graythorp yard near Hartlepool, received a disassembly contract to use accepted practices in scrapping the ship.[23][24] Disassembly began on 18 November 2009 and was completed by the end of 2010.[24]

In December 2009, the longest ship ever built, Seawise Giant, was broken up at Alang.[3]

In August 2012, Oriental Nicety, famous for an oil spill in Prince William sound when she was known as Exxon Valdez, was scrapped at Alang.[25]

Environment, health, and safety issues

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The salvage yards at Alang have generated controversies about numerous environmental, health, and safety issues, including working conditions, workers' living conditions, and environmental impact. The recycling activities pollute the beach and surrounding areas, including the water, with heavy metals.[26] Additionally, in the past, the nearest full-service hospital was 50 km (31 miles) away in Bhavnagar. In March 2019, the Alang Hospital, a multi-speciality hospital at Alang, was inaugurated by Vijay Rupani, the Chief Minister of Gujarat. This hospital was set up by the Gujarat Maritime Board, is operated by the Indian Red Cross Society, and is able to provide immediate medical services.[27][28]

Competition

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Other large facilities on the scale of Alang Ship Breaking Yard include the Aliaga Ship Breaking Yard (Turkey), Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard (Bangladesh) and Gadani ship-breaking yard (Pakistan).[6][29] In the 1980s, Gadani was the largest ship breaking yard; however, competition from newly established yards such as Alang resulted in a significant reduction in output, with Gadani today[when?] producing less than one-fifth of the scrap it produced in the 1980s.[30][31]

Documentaries

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2004: Shipbreakers is a documentary on the industry in Alang by Michael Kot.[32]

2005: On the Road to Alang,[33] by Peter Knego of Maritime Matters, is a documentary on passenger ships scrapped at Alang.[34]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Langewiesche, William. "The Shipbreakers". August 2000;; Volume 286, No. 2; page 31-49. The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  2. ^ "5 killed in Alang Port Shipbreaking yard blast in Gujarat". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  3. ^ a b "FSX Seawise Giant Ultra Tanker". Fly Away Simulation. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  4. ^ "India plans to double Alang shipbreaking capacity • Recycling International". Recycling International. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Doubling ship recycling capacity by 2024: Are we ready?". www.downtoearth.org.in. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Carnival Fantasy arrived at Turkey's Aliaga shipbreaking yard for scrapping | Cruise News". CruiseMapper. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Ship recycling yard in Gujarat sees a dip in business". The Financial Express. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  8. ^ "How world's largest graveyard of ships turned the tide - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  9. ^ Khakhariya, Nimesh (2 February 2021). "Ship recycling to create 1.5 lakh more jobs in three years". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  10. ^ "India". NGO Shipbreaking Platform. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Ship Recycling in Alang – The Changing Scenario". 20 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Gujarat lockdown relaxation: First vessel beached at one of biggest ship recycling yards". Deccan Herald. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Ship recycling in Alang: What is its capacity, and can it attract more aging ships from Europe & Japan?". The Indian Express. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  14. ^ "500px". 500px.com. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Alang Info". alanginfo.com. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  16. ^ Manoj, P. (10 January 2021). "Alang goes green". @businessline. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Japan,Guj govt tie up to upgrade Alang shipyard". The Indian Express. 6 February 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Japan Gives $76m to Improve Alang Shipbreaking Yards". The Maritime Executive. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Japan Gives $76m to Improve Alang Shipbreaking Yards". The Maritime Executive. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  20. ^ Zubair Ahmed (6 January 2006). "Stay out, India tells toxic ship". BBC News. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  21. ^ "Stay out, India tells toxic ship". BBC News. 6 January 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  22. ^ "Chirac orders 'toxic' ship home". BBC News. 16 January 2006. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  23. ^ "Praise for 'toxic' ship scrapping". BBC News Online. 4 January 2010. The dismantling of the former Clemenceau is a positive and pioneering operation in Europe
  24. ^ a b "Ghost ship arrives in north-east". BBC News. 8 February 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  25. ^ "23 years after one of history's worst oil spills,Exxon Valdez 'rests' in Gujarat". The Indian Express. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  26. ^ Demaria, Frederico (1 December 2010). "Shipbreaking at Alang–Sosiya (India): An ecological distribution conflict". researchgate.net. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  27. ^ "અલંગમાં ઇન્ડિયન રેડક્રોસ સોસાયટી અને જી.એમ.બી.દ્વારા નવા કલેવર સજી કેશ લેશ કાઉન્ટર સાથે મલ્ટી સ્પેશ્યાલિટી હોસ્પીટલ શરૂ થશે". Divya Bhaskar. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  28. ^ "Alang, Gujarat: The World's Biggest Ship Breaking Yard & A Dangerous Environmental Time Bomb". Marine Insight. 11 March 2019. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021.
  29. ^ "Carnival Fantasy arrived at Turkey's Aliaga shipbreaking yard for scrapping | Cruise News". CruiseMapper. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  30. ^ "Ship-breaking at Gadani". dawn.com. 23 October 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  31. ^ "Gadani Ship-breaking Yard" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 July 2021.
  32. ^ "SHIPBREAKERS (2004)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 July 2021.
  33. ^ "On The Road To Alang". Archived from the original on 12 January 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  34. ^ "Peter Knego". Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 23 January 2008.

21°24′36″N 72°11′51″E / 21.41000°N 72.19750°E / 21.41000; 72.19750

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