Gadani ship-breaking yard is the world's third largest ship breaking yard located across a 10 km (6.2 mi) long beachfront at Gadani, Pakistan. The yard consists of 132 ship-breaking plots.[1] It is located about 40 km (25 mi) northwest of Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan.[2]
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In the 1980s, Gadani was the largest ship-breaking yard in the world, with more than 30,000 direct employees. However, competition from newer facilities in Alang, India and Chittagong, Bangladesh resulted in a significant reduction in output, with Gadani today producing less than one fifth of the scrap it produced in the 1980s. The recent reduction in taxes on scrap metal has led to a modest resurgence of output at Gadani, which now employs around 6,000 workers.
More than one million tons of steel is salvaged per year, and much of it is sold domestically.[3] In the 2009-2010 fiscal year, a record 107 ships, with a combined light displacement tonnage (LDT) of 852,022 tons, were broken at Gadani, whereas in the previous 2008-2009 fiscal year, 86 ships, with a combined LDT of 778,598 tons, were turned into scrap.[1]
It is the world's third-largest ship breaking yard after Alang Ship Breaking Yard (India) and Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard (Bangladesh), and followed by Aliağa Ship Breaking Yard (Turkey).[4] Workers may earn as little as $12 a day, and are exposed to many dangers.[3]
Capacity
editGadani currently has an annual capacity of breaking up to 125 ships of all sizes, including supertankers, with a combined LDT of 1,000,000 tons.
Although Gadani ranks as the world's third largest ship breaking yard after Alang and Chittagong in terms of volume, it is the world's leading ship breaking yard in terms of efficiency. At Gadani, a ship with 5,000 LDT is broken within 30 to 45 days, whereas in India and Bangladesh it takes, on average, more than six months to break a vessel of the same size.[1]
History
editShip breaking was conducted in Gadani on rare occasions before Pakistan became a sovereign country. The activity of ship breaking at Gadani greatly increased in the 1960s. In 1978, the city of Gadani was designated by the Government of Pakistan as a port.[5] It was described as the largest such yard in the world.[6]
However, increased competition from rival ship-breaking yards in Alang, India, and Chittagong, Bangladesh, coupled with relatively high import duty for decommissioned vessels, led to a disastrous decline in Gadani's output.[6] After producing an average of one million tonnes of scrap in the 1980s, by 2001 the yard produced less than 160,000 tonnes and for ten months had no new vessel arrivals.[6]
In 2001, the Government of Pakistan reduced ship-breaking duties from 15% to 10% and offered further incentives if industry activity improved.[5] After these changes employment increased to a total of around 6,000 workers.[7][8]
Disasters
edit2016 Aces fire
editOn 1 November 2016, at least 26-31 people were killed and 58 wounded as a result of gas cylinder explosions on a ship being scrapped, the floating production storage and offloading oil tanker Aces (IMO number: 8021830, built 1982 as Mobil Flinders),[9][10][11] causing a huge fire.[12] Reportedly more than 100 people were dismantling a tanker in the yard. Some 30 other workers were also reported missing.[13][14]
On November 13, 2017 it was reported that another fire broke out on the same vessel. NGO Shipbreaking Platform reported that Aces laid untouched at the same yard for 12 months after the explosion. The Pakistan Department of Environment gave permission for work to resume on her recycling. On the first day that the breaking recommenced, a fire broke out again, as the oil residues inside the tanker had not been removed. [15]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Record 107 ships dismantled at Gaddani" by Parvaiz Ishfaq Rana, Dawn, 29 June 2010 (http://archives.dawn.com/archives/business/2010-06-29.html)
- ^ "Distance between Karachi and Gaddani".
- ^ a b Nauman, Qasim (Feb 27, 2012). "For Pakistan ship breakers, constant fear of death". GADDANI, Pakistan: Reuters. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ^ "Carnival Fantasy arrived at Turkey's Aliaga shipbreaking yard for scrapping | Cruise News". CruiseMapper. 2020-07-29. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
- ^ a b Alauddin Masood (2001-12-24). "Ship-breaking attracting entrepreneurs". DAWN group of newspapers (online). Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ a b c Aslam, Syed M. (2001-04-23). "Ship-breaking industry: Uncertain future". Pakistan and Gulf Economist. Pakistan and Gulf Economist. Archived from the original on 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
- ^ Dawn.com (2011-10-23). "Ship-breaking at Gadani". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
- ^ "Gadani Ship-breaking Yard" (PDF).
- ^ The Maritime Express (October 15, 2018), Fire at Gadani Shipbreaking Yard Injures Seven
- ^ Inderpreet Walia (November 3, 2016), Deadly tanker's Aussie connection, archived from the original on March 5, 2017, retrieved November 3, 2016
- ^ Steffen Wiedner (February 1, 2007), "Flinders – IMO 8021830" (PDF), Cargo Vessels International
- ^ Tanker Fire at Gadani Shipbreaking Yard Still Active, World Maritime News, November 3, 2016
- ^ Zubair Ashraf and Zafar Baloch (November 1, 2016). "At least 14 killed, 59 injured in Gadani shipbreaking yard fire". The Express Tribune. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ^ Syed Ali Shah and Ismail Sasuli (November 1, 2016). "At least 12 dead, 58 injured in explosions at Gadani shipbreaking yard". Dawn News. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ^ The Maritime Express (November 13, 2017), Defunct FPSO Catches Fire Again at Gadani