The ship breaking treaty

DOZENS of nations signed recently a new treaty at the Hong Kong conference organised by the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to make ship recycling 'safer' as AFP news agency reported. But environmental activists called the new deal 'a step backwards' for the environment and the labourers who do dangerous work. The new convention on ship recycling adopted won't stop a single toxic ship from being broken on the beach of a developing country as remarked by the director of NGO platform on Ship breaking.
It legitimises the infamous breaking yards of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and actually rewards these exploitive operations while punishing those companies that have invested in safer and cleaner methods. Much of the ship breaking done in developing countries takes place on soft sand beaches, where access for heavy lifting equipment and emergency vehicles is difficult or impossible. But the IMO defended the agreement without a ban on beaching and proclaimed the Hong Kong conference 'a success' after 66 member states lined up to sign the treaty.
The treaty, which must now be ratified by individual member states, was a tremendous step forward in terms of health and safety for workers in the shipbreaking industry and for protection of the environment. The maritime organisation estimates that from 1990 to 2006, more than 10,000 ships that weighed over 500 gross tons were recycled worldwide. Breakers pay shop owners by the ton and make their money from re-selling the recovered materials. Ill-protected workers on beaches in poor nations do 80 per cent of the recycling. Beaches provide a poor environment to contain the pollutants released from ships broken apart. No developed country would allow a ship to be broken up on its beaches.