the Align breaking and scrap yards are the largest of their kind this is where
the floating cities we call cruise ships are dismantled and lost forever hundreds of ships
are run aground here in tight configuration to be dismantled through back-breaking work cruise
ships oil tankers container ships and even some Naval warships have met their fate in
this almost apocalyptic looking landscape and although it's interesting to see it
hasn't been without extreme environmental or humanitarian concerns today we discover the
elang breakers I'm your host Ryan so cash and you're watching it's history [Music]
modern ships are so large that it's difficult to comprehend how relatively short their lifespans
are in comparison hence once fully exploited commercially they become big liabilities literally
you see even though the active lifespan of cargo ships is only between 20 and 30 years they've
worked hard in that time frame and once they're used up so to say it's not economical to continue
repair work historically scrapping them mainly had been done in Europe and North America however
by the 1970s a long list of circumstances began weighing down the braking Industries High labor
costs worker safety compensation for injuries and Environmental Protection became Mountain concerns
in simple terms the cost of Labor and the work environment was so gratuitous that it offset
the ship's value as scrap metal so operations were temporarily moved to Pacific countries
such as Korea and Taiwan however as these economies developed ship scrapping was forced out
once again then after a brief transition period alang India became the chosen site for the future
breaking of the world's biggest ships ships were first grounded there in 1983 but why why
was this location chosen well labor in this part of India is relatively cheap the work requires
minimal skill in engineering and simple mechanic experience and importantly the cost to adhere to
India's comparatively loose labor laws no longer offset the value of the scrap metal there was also
a geographic advantage to the new location since the local beach has an incredibly high tide it's
easy for ships to be beached for their scrapping in the process of how they are brought ashore is
quite interesting as massive industrial winches are used to pull them out of the water line from
there workers eventually anchor them to the ground wherever necessary before the work starts Sailors
typically remove their personal effects the boats are then beached and everything of value
is stripped and sold objects such as bedding chairs desks on-board computers and TVs will
all likely be left on board and sold to local Merchants but other items are also stripped and
potentially put on the market including copper wiring portholes and second-hand lifeboats or
other safety equipment sometimes the ship's entire turbine engine is recovered and sold off at high
value to be used as small industrial power plants these generators often sell for approximately 15
percent of their original retail price after refurbishment occasionally workers find liquor
or narcotics apparently keeping them for private consumption although the scrapping process is
hazardous draining the ship's fuel bunker is particularly tricky there's no single method of
doing this instead a crew of inspectors decides on the course of action for the scrapping on a
case-by-case basis from the inside ships are torn apart with welding tools crowbars sledgehammers
and raw elbow grease from the outside chains are sometimes used to pull the vessel apart and onto
the beach where welders cut and continue the process with personal tools apparently small
container ships can be dismantled over the course of a couple of weeks or maybe months
with larger ships sometimes taking years there's a significant degree of nuance in selecting ships
to resell the weight of the ship in raw tonnage isn't necessarily enough justification alone also
considered are the age and point of origin matters that are especially critical when it comes to the
breaking down of military ships russian-built ships were seen as an almost total loss by the
breakers as far back as 2002 with cheap steel and Fabrication standards that make them very
difficult to sell and mainly to export so it's a bit ironic to consider where the Indian Navy
bought its aircraft carrier from anyhow American ships are considered to be the highest in value
for their steel production quality but are balanced by the extreme price to buy them
even after retirement then there's Japanese ships which are seen as the most profitable the easiest
and fastest to break up and resell one ship to be dismantled here was the French aircraft carrier
clemenso she was decommissioned on October the 1st 1997 but sat around for years unwanted by Any
Nation or Navy not even for scrap value this ship was designed in the 50s and was dangerously toxic
because of asbestos in the hall and deck spaces alang was the only breaking yard willing to take
the assumed vessel this was far from uncommon but it illustrates something unique about the Lang
Breakers that haven't been mentioned yet alang is willing to deconstruct ships of almost any genre
regardless of safety or health risks vessels containing lead paint and asbestos are in some
ways the least of the workers and locals concerns giving that the yards in general are recognized
as toxic waste dumps for materials of almost any degree the un's environmental program has targeted
the shipbreaking industry since 1992 with Lang being no exception it's perhaps the worst violator
of them all as mentioned moments ago ships that no one else will take for being too toxic to safely
and economically handle are frequently brought to the elang beaches where the toxic materials
within the ship are released into the air sea and ground even though in theory carcinogens are meant
to be stripped away and dealt with before export to scrap yards traces remain and other hazardous
materials can be burned without a second thought because they are non-recyclable this has had
damning effects on the surrounding lands as well especially the bentonite clay soils close to the
yard you see bentonite clay bonds quickly and was once common in binding industrial asbestos as you
can imagine it holds the Fallen pollutants more naturally this has led to the soil's decreasing
fertility rates and increasing salinity slowly destroying any natural Wildlife or agricultural
potential of course the problem in the water is even worse a 1998 Greenpeace report which I should
inform you is both long and outdated found heavy metals in the Marine soil polluting the waters for
both humans and marine life the low availability of drinking water painfully emphasizes this issue
so despite the area's population boom only only a few Wells are drilled for public water
the existing ones are reportedly improperly sealed so water contamination from industrial
components is very likely the water availability is so challenging that the Port Authorities have
to bring it in on tanker ships anchoring them in place just so that a water source is within reach
the effects on the ecosystem are challenging with no empirical Baseline existing before the
shipbreakers began operations however authorities and local migratory workers noticed the impact on
Flora housing has expanded widely in the area and it's common for houses to make their power
for heating and cooking through the collection of fuel Wood meaning Forest Devastation and smog has
also been added to this Region's complexity other side effects on Flora are the presence of random
seeds and weeds that are found in the faded ships although it might sound strange many weeds are so
detrimental that they're found growing inside and on top of ships at Sea the breaker yard
is no exception workers must stay vigilant for weeds and other dangerous plant life which are a
frequent source of skin irritation other invasive species found in the ships such as plants found in
crew cabins have to be destroyed a study of local water Birds also found similar results before the
yards were built the population of birds in the area included as many as 30 species and in the
vicinity of the scrap yard is the lowest number with only six distinct species consistently seen
across a year-long survey this is likely because of the spill-off of oil and other heavy metals and
liquid pollutants impacting the food chain and breeding grounds of course those who could be
harmed even more by the shipyards or the workers themselves there are 12 categories ranging from
skilled welders crane brain operators heavy winch operators to simple common laborers helpers of
other capacities and migrant workers perhaps the people in the most difficult situation are
those who serve as so-called pack mules moving stripped steel from one place to another these
workers are almost entirely poor migrants with limited skills and education qualifiers that are
rather commonplace here with the only exceptions typically being foreman and supervisors who are
locals but with a higher skill level as they had many years on the job some of the migrant workers
are actual foreigners but most of them are Indian just from poor states within the country about
three quarters of the workers live in nearby Shanty towns and for them as mentioned earlier
there needs to be more potable water there's also limited access to electricity or sewage
and drainage systems for sanitation so conditions are pretty pretty challenging I don't really think
the pay makes up for these conditions as unskilled workers starting wages is a measly 50 US dollars
a month plot supervisors and experienced workers can earn a better but still appalling 65 to 200
a month however well anyone in North America or Europe will see these rates as awful they
are above local standards even considering the constant exposure to toxic materials and high
risk of death on the job for many it's a means to an end but it comes at a huge price without
even considering the ever-present threat of a giant slab of Steel falling on their heads
workers at the shipbreakers frequently contract illnesses such as diarrhea jaundice and stomach
illnesses caused by a lack of Sanitation and poor food more severe diseases can even include cancer
skin diseases and tuberculosis there's also a high rate of prostitution and unsafe sex caused by the
predominantly male Workforce being away from their wives and family with perhaps predictable results
according to the regional and national law workers health and safety are among their primary concerns
when researched by the UN the paper simply concluded that quote safety measures required
by the factories act are not being implemented the industry is scattered disorganized and puts
little value on human life so far this has been a disconcertingly negative topic so we should try to
see the other side of the coin well the average literacy and skill level of workers and migrants
is dismal the proportional wealth families in the area can earn means that a large number
of local kids from Working Families have a much higher chance of attending school than they would
have without the breaking yards before closing out let's include some final caveats there are limited
English written reports on the breakers The Source we used for this topic was predominantly by UNESCO
and while I consider the findings of the report valid as the research research was conducted
over two years using local and international resources it was released almost 20 years ago
and while this is far from ideal the more modern research conducted in India was restricted and
isolated within the country so it's possible that the regional and National authorities would like
to keep things that way meaning that you and I will never really know the full story so I suppose
I'll let you be the jury on this one by sharing your opinion in the comments section but before
you go make sure to hit that subscribe button and until next time this is Ryan sokash signing off