NGO Shipbreaking Platform Calls for Recycling to be Moved from the Beaches : Five More Deaths at Gadani Ship Recycling Yard in Pakistan
A fire that took place in the shipbreaking yards of Gadani, Pakistan, on Monday this week has claimed the lives of five more workers from the recycling yard, according to non-governmental organisation, Shipbreaking Platform.
The deadly fire was reported to have broken out on board of the beached vessel GAZ FOUNTAIN (IMO 8406054). Ship Breaking Platform said that the LPG tanker’s last beneficial owner was the Greek shipping line Naftomar and that the vessel’s name was changed to RAIN and its Panama flag swapped for the end-of-life flag Comoros just before the last voyage – a clear indicator of the use of a cash buyer.
The organisation also noted that shipping newspaper TradeWinds asked cash buyer Wirana for a comment in December, when a first fire had occurred on the same ship. Wirana, one of the world’s largest firms specialised in end-of-life deals, is said to list Naftomar as a client.
The accident was reported to have occurred at yard n° 60, owned by Rizwan Diwan Farooq, the former president of the Pakistan Ship Breakers’ Association.
According to newspaper, The Dawn, Farooq was detained after having fled the yard. The newspaper reported that the fire broke out due to a “chemical foam” present in the ship.
The local Environment Department said that all combustibles should have been removed before the cutting process started and that the accident signalled serious neglect. No worker was injured in the earlier fire that had broken out on the vessel on 21 December. However, it was reported that the incident did not result in any further safety measures that could have prevented the latest deadly accident.
According to another source, the bodies of Saeed Khan, Alif Khan, Muhammad Saeed, Sabir and Naimat were sent to their native town of Peshawar at the expense of the victim’s families.
“Less than three months after the worst explosion in the history of shipbreaking shook Gadani, five more men are dead. We wonder how many lives must be lost before the Government cracks down on the appalling working conditions,” commented Patrizia Heidegger, executive director of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.
“It is shameful for both the ship owner, Naftomar, and the cash buyer to benefit from a situation in which workers’ lives are risked to maximise profits. We ask ship owners to ensure that their end-of-life ships are dismantled in clean and safe ship recycling facilities off the beach,” she continued.
Dirty Cash
According to Shipbreaking Platform cash buyers such as GMS and Wirana promote their so-called “green” ship recycling services, but both continue to trade vessels to the world’s worst shipbreaking yards.
The Platform said that it has shown that these cash buyers sell old ship to yards with appalling accident records, and facilitate dubious deals such as the illegal export of the “North Sea Producer” from the UK to Bangladesh.
The organisation also highlighted an incident on 1 November 2016 in which at least 27 workers were killed and 58 injured in an explosion on an oil tanker beached at yard n° 54 at Gadani.
Four more workers are said to still be missing, with their families unable to find their bodies in the mortuary.
Following that catastrophe, the Government stopped work at the shipbreaking yards, and several key persons of the industry were arrested. However, Shipbreaking Platform said that the yards were soon allowed to return to business as usual, and the Government has yet to prove that it will ensure that the Pakistan shipbreaking industry is moved to industrial platforms that can provide necessary safety measures for workers and prevent pollution of the coastal environment.
On 8 January, another worker, the 24 year old Dilshaad, was reported in The Dawn to have been killed in yet another a separate incident, when a lifeboat crashed down from the SNOWDON (IMO 9112313).
The beached ship’s last beneficial owner was said to be the Zodiac Group, a Monaco and London based shipping company owned by the Ofer family. Over the last years, the Platform said that it has been able to link severe accidents in Bangladesh to Zodiac vessels being broken on the beach.
In November, Platform member organisation Centre of the Rule of Law, Islamabad (CRoLI), filed a petition in the courts to press for further action and the release of information to which the Government of Pakistan and the Government of the province of Balochistan, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Labour department have to reply to. As a result, the Prime Minister has ordered an inquiry. The Government’s report is yet to be published.
“The death of 33 workers in these last months must be a wake-up call for the Pakistan Government,” said Heidegger. “There is growing awareness amongst ship owners. In particular, investors, shipping banks and the clients of the shipping industry are growing weary of such gruesome accidents. If Pakistan does not want to lose this industry, the Government needs to ensure it is shifted to industrial sites off the beach.”
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