The death ships
Alang has periodically swung into the focus of world news.
For the miserable conditions in which its labour live and work.
For its poor medical care; the nearest large hospital is in Bhavnagar, 50 km away.
For the poor pay earned by its workers who toil in the 100-odd yards.
For the hazardous wastes it exports.
For the vast disparity between what the workers earn for their dangerous labour and what the ships sell for in scrap. For instance, shipowners receive anywhere from three million to six million dollars for scrapping a ship and the ship-breakers who buy the ships may even double their investment through sale of recycled material... while workers may earn two dollars each day for dismantling the same ship.
For the accidents that frequently occur -- explosions, fires, falling metal -- in the ship-breaking yards.
For the attention the international environmental protection organisation Greenpeace draws to Alang for doing the first world's hazardous tasks. Greenpeace has made protecting the environment of developing countries and its workers from the hazards of ship-breaking one of its missions. They track old ships and have turned the spotlight onto 50 ships, with toxic chemicals in their maws, that may eventually reach the ship-breaking yards of India, China, Bangladesh, Turkey or Pakistan.
Today the focus is back on Alang again thanks to the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau that was decommissioned in 1997.
Also See: French ship to be dumped