Environmental Dumping - Ship Dismantling

Ship Dismantling

Ship dismantling is another form of transfrontier waste that is shipped from country to country. Many ships are broken down into parts that can be recycled. Many parts of the ships are hazardous and can potentially pollute the areas that they are broken down in. The ship parts can contain asbestos, PCBs, and oil sludge. All of these components can be a potential health risk and harm the environment. Most ship scrapping industries are in developing countries where the laws (environmentally as well as occupationally) are not as strict as in developed countries. International Maritime Organization states that India is the leader in ship dismantling, followed by China, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The aircraft carrier Clemenceau was denied access to Indian waters because it contained asbestos. The French aircraft was carried from France to Britain to be recycled on February 8, 2009 despite the abundance of asbestos.

The EU Commission proposed improvements to be made to improve the ship dismantling as well as the ocean dumping process on November 19, 2008. One major improvement would be to provide facilities designed to break down ship parts safely for recycling mostly in regions of South Asia. The Ship Recycling Convention will not decide on the improvements until May 2009. If the new improvements for making ship dismantling safer for the areas and workers who dismantle the parts are agreed upon at the convention, it would take years before it became international law.