Why is scrapping ships in Bangladesh so deadly?

While Bangladesh has signed up to international safety rules ​on scrapping ships - it recycles about a third of the world's commercial vessels - experts say a lack of enforcement and implementation are ​big issues that have deadly consequences.

While investigations are still ongoing, industry experts pointed to an accident in southeast Bangladesh this month in which 10 people were killed when toxic gas leaked from a ballast tank of a liquefied natural gas tanker that was being broken up.

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"This tragic accident reveals a significant gap between certification on paper and the real conditions on the ground, ‌as well as weaknesses in ⁠implementation and ⁠enforcement of global standards at the national level," said Sara Rita da Costa, South Asia policy officer at Brussels-based NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a coalition of environmental and labour rights groups.

"The latest accident presents a stark lesson that failing to improve the enforcement of rules can kill so many workers in the yards," said ASM Shafiul Alam, the head of the Bangladesh Ship Recycling Board, the government body overseeing the sector.

More than 470 workers have been killed in global shipbreaking since 2009, according to the Shipbreaking Platform.

Bangladesh ratified the Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and environmental recycling of ships in June last year, and has since certified at least 23 shipbreaking yards as complying with its standards, including Ferdous Steel.

Even so, ​at least 15 workers have been killed and 81 injured in 84 accidents at shipbreaking yards since ⁠then, according ‌to the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies. More than 10,000 people work in the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh.

Global shipping accounts for 3% of ​the world's greenhouse gas emissions, ​and as the sector heads towards a 2050 net-zero target, a wave of aging vessels is expected to be scrapped.

At ⁠the end of their working lives, the world's cargo ships are beached mostly to the coasts ​of South Asia, where armies of workers with gas torches, laser cutters and winches tear the giant hulks apart. ​It is labour-intensive, hazardous work.

But before cutters can even touch a hull, a ship is required to have a two-step inspection process: first by an international body, then by Bangladeshi officials, to certify that no toxic gas remains trapped inside.

The 30,770-tonne LNG tanker, the MT Rasi, built in South Korea in 2000, passed the inspections before work began at the Ferdous Steel Shipbreaking Yard at Sitakunda this month, the Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association said.

Authorities have since halted all operations at the yard and fined the its owners 500,000 taka ($4,100) for not having the current environmental clearance.

Costa said such accidents meant there was a need for much closer scrutiny of what she ‌said were systemic shortcomings in the implementation of the Hong Kong Convention.

Safety Gaps

Alam said full conclusions could only be reached once the investigation was complete, but said worker negligence was often to blame.

"Workers flouting safety rules - such as failing to wear safety gear - is a ​key reason for such ​deaths," said Alam.

But unions say responsibility lies ⁠with government agencies overseeing the sector and the owners of shipbreaking yards.

"Both should ensure workers get supervision, training and equipment when taking on the risky job of scrapping obsolete vessels," said Mohammad Ali of the Bangladesh Metalworkers' Federation.

The government is considering installing cameras and other monitoring tools, said Alam, but it is not clear when.

The ​sector needs to introduce technologies that automate the most dangerous tasks, said Jashim Uddin Badal, the manager of the International Maritime Organization project that supports Bangladesh.

But some of the risks are known only by the workers, he said.

"The workers who spend their days inside ship hulls and cutting yards are the people best placed to identify emerging risks, and their voices need to be heard in how safety standards are set and enforced." said Badal.

But for now, said Costa from Shipbreaking Platform, ship owners profit from sending vessels to South Asia for recycling, "while the true costs of scrapping ships are borne by shipbreaking workers, surrounding communities, and the environment."