Shipbreaking Site English
home | about shipbreaking | news archive | photo & video | documents
operation final voyage | 50 ships in the spotlight | spot a ship | newsletter | |

About Shipbreaking



© Heeneman/GP How are ships scrapped?

Ships are scrapped by poor workers earning between US $1,5 and 2,5 a day. They break the ships with torch cutters and their bare hands - unprotected from toxic substances, explosions and falling steel.

Well over 100,000 men and women work at shipbreaking yards worldwide. They are desperate for a job. Unknowingly they dry asbestos plates in the sun and sell the pieces. Even in their sleeping quarters the toxic substances are all over the place.

©  Engel/GPMost of the ships dismantled today were built in the 1970s. That is to say prior to the banning of many hazardous materials. On the Asian beaches these toxic substances are released into the environment and the workers bodies.



Remarkable ships
© Corbis
Pacific Princess ('Love Boat') is on the Greenpeace list.
More remarkable ships...
Are you connected to the shipping industry, a shipspotter, a harbourmaster, a crew member or in any other way able to localize the positions of ships? We need your help!

Free electronic newsletter ShipBreakingNews.

If you want to receive regular updates on the Greenpeace shipbreaking campaign, click here!