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Sixty-three Countries Approve United Nations Convention on Ship Recycling
Recent reports state that governments from sixty-three different countries have approved a United Nations convention that is designed to protect workers around the globe from asbestos and other dangers related to the business of "recycling" aging ships, otherwise known as shipbreaking.
The convention hopes to make a dramatic change worldwide in the way workers across the globe dismantle ships in scrap yards by ensuring higher safety standards at recycling yards, especially those located in South Asia.
Untold numbers of under-educated workers become ill each year after taking part in this industry. Aging ships are often filled with asbestos, which is often used in the construction of hulls or as an insulator around pipes and boilers.
Asbestos exposure is connected to the development of serious respiratory diseases, including mesothelioma cancer. In developing nations, the survival rate for mesothelioma patients is far less than the rate in the United States, where doctors like Dr. David Jablons are focusing on new diagnostic tools and treatments.
Critics of the convention, including a coalition of 107 environmental and rights groups, believe that the International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships does not do enough to truly make a meaningful change.
The coalition believes that governments should go further and ban the practice of breaking down ships altogether. In addition, critics of the convention state that ship owners should be required to remove all hazardous materials from the ship prior to beginning the recycling process.
An estimated 1,000 ships are broken down each year in countries all over the globe. The majority of the industry is located in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. There is also an active ship recycling industry in China and Turkey. Far too often, workers are not equipped with appropriate safety gear, such as respirators and disposable suits, which would drastically decrease exposure rates.
Recycling aging ships by sending them off to developing countries makes a great deal of economic sense, but it does endanger the lives of workers who are poorly trained and uneducated about the dangers of their profession.
The convention was drafted by the International Maritime Organization, and will go into effect two years after the required ratification process.
The convention requires recycling facilities to take efforts to reduce explosions and other accidents. In addition, workers will need to be properly trained and provided with safety equipment such as gloves, goggles and respirators.