Ghost Ship Found in Myanmar Waters

An empty vessel was found in Myanmar waters was found in the last week of August. It was first discovered by fishermen in the Gulf of Martaban. Further investigation by the Myanmar Navy revealed that the rusted vessel, named “Sam Rataulangi PB 1600”, was on its way to a ship-breaking factory in Bangladesh from Indonesia when bad weather caused the vessel to break apart from the ship, which was towing it. Both the ship and the vessel are Indonesian-owned.

Reading this article piqued my interest in the ship-breaking industry. Ship-breaking is the process of dismantling unused vessels for disposal or scrapping. Almost all ship-breaking yards use beaching, one of the four methods of ship-breaking, which is the crashing of a vessel onto a beach so that it can be dismantled during low tide. The Chittagong Ship-Breaking Yard is the largest ship-breaking industry in the world.

What are the environmental implications of ship-breaking, specifically beaching as a ship-breaking method? I would imagine heavy metal pollution would cause water contamination that has adverse effects on marine biodiversity, as well as human health.

Upon further reading, it appears that ship-breaking in Bangladesh puts the safety of workers at risk. Accidents are not only a commonplace but some can also be fatal. Such poor working conditions reflect the selfish interests of  political leaders. They would lower labor (and environmental) standards with the sole purpose of maximizing gains. However, political leaders of developing nations are often faced with a dilemma: should they raise labor and environment standards and lose potential capital from the private sector? Do they actually have the agency to set standards?

Sources:

theguardian.com/global-development/2017/dec/02/chittagong-shipbreaking-yards-legal-fight

thejakartapost.com/seasia/2018/09/01/ghost-ship-in-myanmar-waters-earlier-towed-by-indonesian-manned-vessel-navy.html