ship dismantling and its environmental consequences

SHIP DISMANTLING AND IT’S ENVIRONMENAL CONSEQUENCES

VAISHALI PATHAK (B120020247)

SHUBHAM PURI (B120020264)

SHUBHAM SHARMA (B120020265)

SOURABH RANA (B120020282)

SURTI SHARMA (B120020289)

DefinitionHistoryCauses of environment pollutionImpact on intertidal sediments and soilsImpact on physiochemical propertiesImpact on biodiversityIndian court in actionWatchdogsReferences

Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical.

Ship breaking or ship demolition is atype of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling.

Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially steel, to be recycled.

Ship breaking has earned a good reputation for being a profitable industry in developing countries there are a number of environmental and human health hazards.

Ship breaking activities is a threat to both the terrestrial and marine environment as well as to public health.

It is like a mini version of a city that discharges every kind of pollutants a metropolis can generate like liquid, metal, gaseous and solid pollutants.

Until the late 20s century, ship dismantling yards were developed in countries such asUnited KingdomU.S.A

•Today, most of the yards are in the developing countries,for example Largest yard is ;Gadani in PakistanAlang in India

Asbestos

Oil

Pop’s

Heavy metals

Asbestos is used in ships as a heat insulator.

There are no asbestos disposal procedures.

During scrapping, workers and the surrounding environment are exposed to the asbestos fibers.

Exposure to asbestos fibers (even in very low concentrations) especially through inhalation may cause cancerand asbestosis.

It has also proven to be one of the most lethal, as inhaling asbestos fibers can lead to a wide range of pulmonary problems such as asthmaand can also be the direct cause of mesothelioma.

Remain intact in the environment for long periods.

Accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to the human population, wildlife and the environment.

Can cause serious health effects ranging from increased incidence of cancers to disruption of hormonal system

Heavy metals are found in many parts of ships such as in paints, coatings, anodes and electrical equipment.

These are taken apart with no protective measures.

Exposure can result in lung cancer, cancer of the skin, intestine, kidney, liver or bladder. It can also cause damage to blood vessels.

Oil films on water reduce the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide across the air-sea interface which is harmful to aquatic life.

Oil may cause serious damage in different ways, such as a reduction of light intensity beneath the water surface which inhibits photosynthesis.

Sometimes spilling may cause wide spread mortality amongst the population of fish, mammals, worms, crabs, mollusks and other water organisms.

It also causes damage to the bird population by coating their feathers with oil which causes buoyancy and insulation losses.

In ship breaking areas various refused and disposable materials are discharged and spilled from scrapped ships and often get mixed with the sand.

The scraps from the ships are staked haphazardly on the sea shore, leaving behind an accumulation of metal fragments and rust (particularly iron) in the soil.

These together with extensive human and mechanical activities often go on as matter of routine work resulting in the beach soil losing its binding properties.

This accelerates the amount of shore erosion and increase the turbidity of sea water and sediments in the area.

Toxic concentration of ammonia, marine organisms found in seawater has an increase in PH levels.

Accelerate the rate and amount of seashore erosion and results in higher turbidity of seawater.

Abundance of floatable materials (grease balls and oil films) in the seawater.

Ship breaking activities contaminate the coastal soil and sea water environment mainly through the discharge of ammonia, burned oil spillage etc.

High PH of the seawater.

As a result the growth and abundance of marine organisms especially plankton and fishes may seriously be affected.

The 26-year-old ship, now known as the Oriental Nicety, entered Indian waters to be broken down for valuable parts. But it was denied permission to anchor near Alang, the hub of India's ship-breaking industry, while the

court examined an environmental

activist's petition that said the vessel

contained toxic substances.

The Supreme Court has allowed

Exxon Valdez, which caused one of

the worst US oil spills, to be dismantled in the country but required

the owner to pay for disposal of any

toxic materials found on the ship.

The Basel Action Network (BAN) is an non-governmental charitable organization working to combat the export of toxic waste, toxic technology and toxic products from industrialized societies to developing countries.

BAN is based in Seattle, Washington, United States, with a partner office in the Philippines.

IMO – the International Maritime Organization – is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.

Headquaters of IMO is in London,U.K.

It has to be Goverenment to take control of this disastrous activity.Concrete steps need to implement.Goverenment should check these activities going under their nose.As we all come to know that how and what are the results of ship dismantling so there is need to organize a protest,rallies and Dharnasby every person. If act in time we can save the diversity of Biodiversity.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ship_breaking

www.ndtv.com/article/india/india-allows-exxon-valdez-dismantling-but-with-conditions-249951

www.imo.org/About/pages/Default.asp

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basel_Action_Network