Alang Beach Faced Toxic Assault of 415 Dead Ships in 2011-12

Note:Obsolete ship owners from US, Japan and developed countries of Europe are guilty of transferring harm to Indian waters on Alang beach as an act of waste colonialism.

Gopal Krishna
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)

Alang yard sets ship dismantling record

In the fiscal period of 2011-12, Asia's largest shipbreaking yard -
at Alang in India - recorded its highest-ever number of ships arriving for
recycling, according to the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB).

A total of 415 ships were dismantled at the Alang facility, averaging 38.6
million tonnes of light ton displacement (LDT) against 28.2 million tonnes
LDT in 2010-11. In an official statement, the GMB attributes these results
partly to the 'key infrastructure' for toxic storage and disposal
facilities serving both hazardous and non-hazardous waste.

The board goes on to explain that despite the struggling global economy
during 2011-12, the non-major ports in Gujarat saw traffic rise 12%,
resulting in 259 million tonnes of shipbreaking volume versus 231 million
tonnes in 2010-11. At the same time, traffic handling capacity increased
roughly 14% from 284 million tonnes per annum to 323 million tonnes.

But the facility's full potential has yet to be reached, believes GMB's
Vice Chairman and CEO Pankaj Kumar, revealing expectations that by 2015-16
the Gujarat ports will be able to handle over 500 million tonnes per year
and quite possibly 1 billion tonnes by 2020.

Source: Recycling International. 13 April 2012

http://www.recyclinginternational.com/recycling-news/6196/ferrous-metals/india/alang-yard-sets-new-ship-dismantling-record