Sustainable Design of Ship Breaking Industry in Developing Countries

Abstract

Ship breaking industry is one of the important industries for developing economies. It provides employment, economic prosperity and much needed re-useable materials for country's economic development. Ship breaking industry is green per se as it allows using scrap metals and other machineries for vertical and horizontal recycling. It provides raw materials for national economic activities including industrialization, construction, and building and infrastructure development. Ship breaking is crucial especially for Bangladesh as it does not have any natural resources including iron ore except the natural gas. Although ship breaking is economically beneficial but it comes with a huge environmental and occupational health and safety cost. Ship breaking industries have been developed through unplanned and unscientific ways in most developing countries. In this study, a systematic and sustainable approach to ship breaking activities has been proposed. With proper implementation, it will not only safeguard the environment and occupational health and safety but also improve productivity, profit margin and national economic prosperity. The proposed approach can be replicated in most developing countries with little or no modification.