Surge of Accidents in Bangladesh Shipbreaking Yards

After having observed a decrease in the number of accidents in the shipbreaking yards in Chittagong, Bangladesh, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform said it now sees a resurging accident rate for the three first quarters of 2017, with eight injuries and six deaths recorded in 10 separate incidents in the last two months alone.

According to Muhammed Ali Shahin, local contact of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, “The working conditions in all the Chittagong shipbreaking yards are deplorable. Claims that the situation in the yards has somewhat improved are misleading: workers are still exposed to enormous risks and are killed because of the lack of basic safety procedures and infrastructure.”

So far this year, 51 out of the total 152 ships that have been beached in Chittagong are owned by European companies.