Shipbreaking workers and surrounding communities face significant health risks due to exposure to toxic materials, while inadequate labour protections exacerbate their plight.

Bangladesh has emerged as the world’s leading destination for dismantling end-of-life ships in 2024. However, this achievement comes with grave human rights and environmental consequences, says the global human rights watchdog, Human Rights Watch (HRW). Shipbreaking workers and surrounding communities face significant health risks due to exposure to toxic materials, while inadequate labour protections exacerbate their plight. HRW submitted findings to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights on March 11, shedding light on these critical issues.

Shipbreaking in Bangladesh is conducted on open beaches, a method known as “beaching,” which allows hazardous materials to be directly discharged into the environment, the organisation says. This process releases toxic chemicals, oil, and heavy metals onto the sand and into the sea, polluting coastal habitats, endangering biodiversity, and posing serious health risks to workers and nearby communities.

The air in and around shipbreaking yards is thick with toxic fumes from asbestos, lead, and other dangerous substances. Many workers, lacking proper protective equipment, wrap their shirts around their faces to mitigate exposure. Without adequate safety training or tools, they are left vulnerable to severe health issues, including respiratory diseases and cancer.

Impact of asbestos exposure

Asbestos is one of the most common toxic substances found in older ships. Inhalation of asbestos fibres can lead to asbestosis, a serious lung condition that causes fibrosis, breathing difficulties, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. A 2017 study by the Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health, and Environment Foundation found that over one-third of shipbreaking workers surveyed had developed preventable health complications due to asbestos exposure.

Workers suffering from asbestosis have formed an advocacy group, the Asbestos Victims Rights Network, and have organized seminars and peaceful protests, demanding that their employers cover treatment costs and compensate for lost wages. However, their pleas have largely gone unanswered. Many affected workers are unable to continue working, forcing their children to leave school and seek employment to support their families. Ali, a 42-year-old former shipbreaking worker, shared his distressing experience: “She was a student, but her education stopped now because I cannot work.” His 16-year-old daughter had to take a job in a garment factory to make ends meet.

Legal protections; Employer negligence

Bangladesh has laws in place to protect shipbreaking workers. The 2011 Shipbreaking and Recycling Rules and the 2006 Labour Act mandate that employers cover medical treatment for workplace injuries and provide compensation for long-term health impacts. However, workers report that these protections are rarely enforced. The medicine and inhalers required to manage asbestosis symptoms cost around 11,000 BDT (US$118) per month, but employers consistently refuse to cover these expenses.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Labour and Employment mandates a medical care stipend as part of the minimum wage legislation for shipbreaking workers, yet none of the workers interviewed by HRW had received these benefits. The failure to uphold these legal protections leaves affected workers and their families in financial ruin.

Role of global shipping companies

The responsibility for these hazardous conditions does not lie solely with Bangladeshi employers the organisation says, adding that global ship-owners play a significant role in perpetuating the cycle of exploitation by sending their ships to Bangladesh, where environmental and labour protections are weak. A major barrier to accountability is the lack of transparency in the ownership of ships destined for dismantling.

International scrap dealers, known as “cash buyers,” purchase aging ships and resell them to Bangladeshi shipbreaking yards. In many cases, these buyers use shell companies as registered owners, making it nearly impossible to trace the original ship-owner. Workers report that the names of ships are either painted over or removed upon arrival at the scrapyards, further obscuring the chain of responsibility.

HRW’s findings underscore the urgent need for stronger enforcement of labour laws and greater transparency in ship ownership. The Bangladeshi government must hold shipbreaking companies accountable for workers’ health and safety, ensuring that employers fulfil their legal obligations to provide medical treatment and compensation.

Global shipping companies should also be held responsible for the environmental and human rights violations linked to their end-of-life vessels. International regulations must be strengthened to ensure that ship-owners do not evade accountability through complex ownership structures.

Moreover, Bangladesh must transition to safer and more sustainable shipbreaking methods, such as dry-dock dismantling, which significantly reduces environmental contamination, says the document. International support and investment in green ship recycling facilities could help achieve this goal.

The shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh stands at a crossroads, says HRW, arguing that without urgent reforms, workers will continue to suffer, communities will bear the burden of environmental degradation, and the country’s reputation in the global ship recycling industry will be further tarnished. Ensuring access to justice and effective remedies for shipbreaking workers is not just a moral imperative but a necessity for sustainable development and human rights protection, HRW says.

History

In 1960, after a severe cyclone, the Greek ship M D Alpine was stranded on the shores of Sitakunda, Chittagong. It could not be re-floated and so remained there for several years. In 1965, Chittagong Steel House bought the ship and had it scrapped. It took years to scrap the vessel, but the work gave birth to the industry in Bangladesh.

During the Bangladesh Liberation War, a Pakistani ship Al Abbas was damaged by bombing. Later on, the ship was salvaged by a Soviet team who were working at Chittagong port at the time and the ship was brought to the Faujdarhat seashore. A local company, Karnafully Metal Works Ltd bought it as scrap in 1974 and introduced commercial ship breaking in the country.

The industry grew steadily through the 1980s and by the middle of the 1990s, the country ranked number two in the world by tonnage scrapped. In 2008, there were 26 ship breaking yards in the area, and in 2009 there were 40.

An explosion during dismantling of the oil tanker MT Suvarna Swarajya on September 7, 2024, in Bangladesh had brought into light the abject lack of adequate international and national regulations, oversight, and labour rights protections in the shipbreaking industry, prompting HRW and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform to raise the status of ship workers. Six workers have died and four remain in critical condition in the 2024 incident.