How to disappear completely

As I mentioned last post, this weekend Tania and I played hosts and had a slumber party in the gong for all our Dhaka buddies who are normally lost in the concrete jungle that is Bangladesh's capital city. One of the main attractions of Chittagong is the Ship Wrecking Yards, and as such, we went in a big bideshi (foreigner) bunch drawing about as much attention to ourselves as is possible, and talked our way into one of the yards themselves to have a stroll around the toxic wasteland.

Because I don't claim to be an expert on everything, I will defer to the bible (aka lonely planet) to give you a bit of background info:

"Along the shore north of Chittagong, every type of ocean-going vessel from super tankers to tug boats is dismantled - all with manual labour... Armies of workers use blowtorches, sledgehammers and plain brute force to tear them apart...Ship-breaking is a controversial industry. It threatens public health, the environment and the rights and lives of workers. Greenpeace and other organisations have taken issue with the industry"

And after visiting it is not hard to see why environmental and humanitarian groups might be a little alarmed at the practice.



The ships are pulled apart, piece by piece, while still in the water, and all without power tools



I had a chat to these guys who work in the yards seven days a week. All reports say workers earn from 150-200 taka per day, which is currently equivalent to AUD$4.65. That's not even $5 a day, and the work is amongst the hardest jobs I have ever witnessed, which is saying something in Bangladesh where I've seen many labour intensive jobs I am keen to avoid for the rest of my working life.

And then there's the child labour:



These lads are barely in their teens, using blowtorches on rusted metal with no supervision to speak of. An alarming sight considering the average ship wrecking yard worker can expect a working lifespan of about ten years from when they start. Statistically there is apparently one death a week, and one serious injury per day.



And it's not hard to see why.



Some argue however that the ship wrecking yards are a necessary evil for Bangladesh. There are not many countries left in the world who will accept the ships being sent to their graves, and they provide Bangladesh with over 90% of the steel used in the country. Chittagong has the only steel-mill in Bangladesh which processes all the steel salvaged from the ships so it can be sent across the country to be used, in building and construction for example. Without this industry, Bangladesh would have to rely on expensive imports for steel. Considering the risk to lives and the enormous environmental hazard the breaking down of the ships causes, however, it's very hard to think it's worth it. Asbestos is one particular nasty that hangs out on old ships. It's not really what you want those young lads breathing in every day.



All of this combines to make the yards a fascinating, if slightly unsafe, place to visit.



And yes, the ships are really, really big. Especially for someone who comes from Sydney, complete with a harbour entirely incapable of accommodating huge monstrosities such as these.


I don't know about you, but I'm not about to trade professions any time soon. These hands just ain't cut out for that kind of work. Now, where is my pen...?