Ship Recycling Industry in Pakistan
Pakistan Ship Breakers’ Association
Presented by Asif Ali Khan
Presentation Plan
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Introduction & Brief History
Tonnage Imported during last 10 years
Steel Demand & Government Policies
Economic Importance
Strengths & Dismantling Procedures
Our Weaknesses
Our Commitment
Introduction & Brief History
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Ship Recycling has a long history in Pakistan. Perhaps we are the oldest ship
recycling Industry in the sub-continent region. Though activity somewhat
remained inconsistent over the years due to various local & international
factors.
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Initially the Ship Recycling was done at Ghans Bandar near Karachi Port.
However this was restricted basically for dismantling barges , tugs, boats &
smaller vessels.
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During late 1960s Gadani started to operate and later in 1970s the activity
picked up the momentum and it became an organize Industry in Pakistan.
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Gadani is situated about 50km from the Karachi city, the financial capital of
Pakistan, a drive of roughly an hour from the Karachi city.
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The Ship Recycling area at Gadani is a stretch of about 10km in length. It
presently consists of about 130 operating yards with each yard having a
uniform water front of 220ft and onshore depth of 550fts or more.
Introduction & Brief History…continued
• Majority of these yards are privately owned by locals with about 30 yards
owned a the Balochistan Development Authority.
• Most of the yards at Gadani has an excellent drafts suitable to take any
size of the ship for recycling . We have scrapped up to 73,000 ldt super
tankers at Gadani.
• At Gadani generally we don’t need high tide for beaching excepting only
few very high draft vessels.
• The Tidal variation at Gadani beach is between 1-3 mtrs only.
• The current available recycling facility is around 6.000million tons however
same grossly under utilized and we have still not crossed the scrapping of
around a million tons of ldt per annum, which is about 20-25% of
Country’s current annual steel consumption.
Introduction & Brief History…continued
• Other sources of steel supply are Steel Furnaces, Pakistan Steel Mills and
scrap imports.
• Ship Recycling in a labor intensive industry and currently providing on-site
employment to about 6,000 skilled/unskilled laborer and more than
hundred thousand people in terms of indirect labors, office and ancillary
worker etc.
• It is the largest single Industry providing employment to such a huge
number of people and is the backbone of the Industrial activities in the
much under developed Province of Balochistan.
Tonnage Imported in last Ten years
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From
July 1, 1999
July 1, 2000
July 1, 2001
July 1, 2002
July 1, 2003
July 1, 2004
July 1, 2005
July 1, 2006
July 1, 2007
July 1, 2008
July 1, 2009
TO
June 30, 2000
June 30, 2001
June 30, 2002
June 30, 2003
June 30, 2004
June 30, 2005
June 30, 2006
June 30, 2007
June 30, 2008
June 30, 2009
June 30, 2010
NO.OF SHIPS
38
27
36
43
62
27
21
37
59
84
107
Total………………………………………….
LDT
548,400.0
180,770.19
759,040.22
240,536.42
355,257.01
57,780.69
69,501.05
153,113.00
133,328.20
682,200.68
846,159.45
4,026,087.42
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* Tonnage figures are according to financial year starting July 01 and ending June 30 every year.
Steel Demand & the Government Policy
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Pakistan’s current steel consumption is around 4.5 -5.00 million tons per annum,
however keeping with the current pace of growth this projected to increase to around 12
millions by 2015.
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The Government of Pakistan is fully aware of the importance of the ship recycling
industry in the Country and are trying to provide all necessary assistance to prepare this
industry not only for the steady growth & development but also to face the new
upcoming changes in the National & International Standards in terms of safety and
environment etc.
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The Ministry of Environment is the lead Ministry /focal point for the Recyclers. This
Ministry is coordinating with all involved Ministries ie. Commerce, Industries, Ports,
Customs, Shipping and Finance etc to organize a coordinated effort to facilitate the ship
recyclers.
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In view of the growing demand of steel and in order to keep the prices stable in the
Country, for the past few years there is NO Import Duty on ships for Recycling or Remelting/ Re-Rollable Scraps. However we have Sales Tax, Withholding Tax and other
levies etc which makes the total import taxes more than double than our competing ship
recycling nations in sub-continent region.
Steel Demand & the Government Policy… continued
• Ship Recycling being an Industry has to fully comply with all the legislative
framework imposed by the various Government departments. As any
other Industry this includes compliance with various Financial Regulations
and Labor Laws, Labor Compensation Act, Employees Old Age Benefits and
various Environmental compliances.
• Ship Recycling also has to comply with requirements laid down by the EPA,
Balochistan and without an NOC from the EPA the recycling work cannot
commence. EPA issues NOC only upon completion of the survey of the
arriving vessel and their fullest satisfaction about HazMats onboard and
provides guidelines on their satisfactory disposal.
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Tankers & Gas Carriers etc are not put to cutting operations unless they
are made fully gas free safe for men entry and hot works.
Economic Importance of the Industry
• As mentioned earlier Ship Recycling in Pakistan has a great importance for
the Country. It not only provides employment to thousand of workers, a
substantial revenue to the Government but it also provides the quality and
cheapest raw materials to our national steel industry and playing a vital
role in the national growth.
• We all know that Ships are not only cheap source for steel but it also
provides a good quantity of re-useable wood, furniture, sanitary fittings,
generators, motors, pumps, boilers, the non-ferrous metals which all goes
into various national industries and all of which if separately imported,
may cost fortunes to Country.
Our Strengths and Breaking Procedure
• At this occasion, I would like to highlight to the audience that contrary to
what being done in other ship recycling countries in the sub- continent, at
Gadani we are:
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FULLY MECHANIZED : USE OF HEAVY CRANES, WHEEL LOADER, LIFTERS,
WINCHES ETC ARE VERY COMMON
NO MANUAL HANDLING OF ANY HEAVY ITEMS BY LABORERS
NO LIFTING ON SHOULDERS
STRICTLY NO CHILD LABOR
NO BAREFOOT WORKERS
SAFETY GEARS AND PPEs ARE IN COMMON USE AT YARDS.
NO GAS CYCLINDERS USED AS WE HAVE A WELL MANAGED AND WELL
SECURED NETWROK OF UNDER GROUND GAS PIPE LINES WHICH
CONNECTED FROM MAIN LIQUID OXYGEN/ ACETYLENE GAS TANKS TO
DESIGNATED CUTTING AREA INCLUDING SUPPLY FOR ONBOARD
CUTTING.
Our strengths and Breaking Procedures …CONTINUED
• We are fully committed to ensure our workers are not exposed to any
dangerous situations.
• No tanker is put to cutting unless all tanks are properly cleaned by
specialized contractors and are made gas free for hot works.
• Oils and sludge are carefully pumped out through proper lines connected
with shore receiving tanks.
• Some of our breakers already acquired ISO certifications and other
marching towards it.
• We are doing whatever we can to enhance our safety standards within our
available resources and a very small profit percentage. According to World
Bank Consortium Group Report Pakistani Recycler making a profit of just 3
percent compared to Indians making 8 percent and Bangladeshis making
15 percent.
Our Strengths and Breaking Procedure …. CONTINUED
• Ladies and Gentlemen , the Pakistan Ship Recycling Industry is fully
committed and are continuously working towards making it safer for
everyone. While we do not know or say anything about China or Turkey
however it is not a secret that at Gadani we have the lowest rate of
accidents or deaths compared to our counterparts in sub-continent.
• The Laborers working at Gadani Recycling Industry are a mix of local and
migrant workers. Workers , transporters and petty jobbers have their very
strong & active Trade Unions.
• It would be interesting to tell this audience that an average unskilled &
unqualified basic labor earns a minimum wage of Rs.15,000 per month
compared to same worker earning not more than Rs.7,000 a month in
other areas of the Country. Skilled Worker/Gas Cutters/Crane Drivers etc
earns around Rs.25- 30,000 per month basic.
• Free accommodation with basic amenities and food is provided to all
permanent workers at all yards at Gadani.
Our Weaknesses …. we need support
• Having given you a brief background and introduction on the Ship
Recycling in Pakistan. I feel sad in saying that in spite of so much of activity
in ship recycling over last more than four decades, Gadani still lacks
regular supply of Drinking Water, Electricity for domestic consumption or
telephone lines. We bring potable water for our laborers and self use
through trucks from Karachi or Hub, Electric is generated through self
owned generators. All this costs us substantially over & above any other
Industry.
• Sadly we DO NOT have any organized Landfill site or the Solid Waste
Management Facility for Gadani. Our friends from Ministry of
Environment are taking keen interest on this subject and we are hoping
that they will be able to soon organize something in this respect.
• One has to appreciate that without backup facilities, the recycler cannot
really do what they are expected to do in terms of safe disposal of
hazardous wastes.
Our Weaknesses ………….. we need your support
• Pakistan Recycling Industry needs help and assistance from friends like
Turkey , China and others. We are thankful to Basel Convention
Secretariate, specially Ms Susan Wingfield for taking this initiative and
organizing this event here in Turkey. We are keen to learn and we hope to
collect maximum possible guidance from our friends here in Turkey which
we can implement back home in Pakistan in due course of time within our
available facilities.
• Pakistan Ship Recyclers are also extremely thankful to the Government
and Ship Recyclers Association in Turkey for consenting and providing us
with this Technology and Knowledge Transfer opportunity.
• Here I would also like to extend our appreciation for Dr Nikos Mikelis who
without any doubt doing a great service for the humanity working with
ship recyclers on improving the safety and environmental standards.
Our Commitment
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We are here to share our experiences with the Recyclers from Turkey and to
go back home with new ideas to make our operations more safer and more
environmentally friendly, though one thing we all have to appreciate that at
present in Pakistan we severely lack the basic facilities I mentioned earlier ie.
the Landfill , the Solid Waste Management Facility, the Roads, supply of
Electric, Water and Communication lines etc. Moreover one more most
important thing we have to understand is the difference in various arrival
preparations and actual cutting procedures due beaching and non-beaching
methods used in Turkey and Pakistan.
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Ladies & Gentlemen, Pakistan Sip Recyclers are committed towards safer
environment and we pledge to do whatever best we can do to further improve
on our standards and prepare ourselves on war footings to proceed towards
full compliance with Basel and IMO Regulations in due course of time.
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Some pictures from Gadani.
A VLCC on the beach
Safety and Cleanliness
We are mechanized, our labors do not handle any heavy item manually.
No Child Laborers. Its against the Law.
Cutting Operations in progress
Cutting Operations in progress
Crane Lifting big piece for delivery to cutting area
Liquid Gas Tanks
Oxygen Tanks being filled by supply truck
Ready Material being transferred to delivery area
Delivery Trucks being loaded, no manual handling or lifting on shoulders
THANKYOU