Curriculum The Economics of Shipbreaking
The Economics of Shipbreaking
What happens to ships at the end of their lives: why most are scrapped in South Asia, beaching versus drydock recycling, the price of a dead ship, steel re-rolling, workers' safety, toxic materials, the Hong Kong Convention, Bangladesh and Pakistan's yards, green ship recycling, and a recap.
- Where Old Ships Go How most of the world's old ships are dismantled on beaches in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and why this industry exists there. 📄 Read-aloud
- Beaching Versus Drydocks How beaching drives ships onto tidal mudflats for dismantling, why it's cheaper than drydock recycling, and the environmental and safety concerns. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Price of a Dead Ship How ships are sold for scrap by their light displacement tonnage, how cash buyers act as middlemen, and how steel prices and currencies move scrap prices. 📄 Read-aloud
- Scrap Steel and Re-Rolling Mills How steel plates from ships are re-rolled into construction bars in Gujarat, why this cheap steel matters for local building, and quality concerns. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Second-Hand Markets of Alang How shops along the Alang-Bhavnagar road sell everything from ships, furniture, generators, lifeboats and crockery, creating a unique second-hand economy. 📄 Read-aloud
- Shipbreaking Workers How tens of thousands of migrant workers dismantle ships, the high risks of fires, falls and toxic exposure, and efforts to improve safety. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Economics of Shipbreaking: Checkpoint 1 Quick checkpoint - five questions on shipbreaking, beaching, prices, steel and second-hand markets. 5 questions
- Toxic Materials in Old Ships How old ships contain asbestos, PCBs, heavy metals and oil residues, why the Basel Convention treats ships as hazardous waste, and the Clemenceau case. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Hong Kong Convention How the Hong Kong International Convention for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling, adopted in 2009, finally entered into force in June 2025, and what it requires. 📄 Read-aloud
- Chattogram and Gadani How Bangladesh's Chattogram yards became the world's largest by tonnage in some years, supplying much of the country's steel, and Pakistan's Gadani yards. 📄 Read-aloud
- Green Ship Recycling How ship owners, banks and cargo firms increasingly demand responsible recycling, how some Alang yards upgraded with impermeable floors and cranes, and the costs involved. 📄 Read-aloud
- Shipbreaking and Freight Cycles How shipbreaking volumes rise when freight markets are weak and owners scrap old ships, and fall when freight rates are high, as after COVID-19. 📄 Read-aloud
- Shipbreaking: Recap A recap of the economics of shipbreaking. 📄 Read-aloud