Violating Supreme Court order, 53 ships beach at Alang
1. Violating SC order, 53 ships beach at Alang
In September, the SC passed an order that said ships would be given permission to beach only after they obtain a certificate saying that they were gas free for hot work
New Delhi: Violating the Supreme Court’s September directive asking ships arriving in India to be scrapped to beach only after they meet a certain condition, 53 of them have beached at Gujarat’s Alang ship-breaking yard without doing so because the firms involved claim there is no clarity as to who will certify that they have met this condition.
The Ship Recycling Industries Association (SRIA), an industry lobby group for ship recyclers, admitted this in an application to the court, which is hearing an ongoing litigation on hazardous waste.
Ships have a certain lifespan after which their owners sell them as scrap. Ships need to be broken at ship-breaking yards such as the one at Alang before metal can be extracted from them. However, some of the ships contain gases and can explode even as workers use cutters to strip them of metal. Ships that have to be broken have to beach, or run themselves onto a beach from water, because it is easier to break them on land.
In September, the Supreme Court passed an order that said ships would be given permission to beach only after they obtain a certificate saying that they were “gas free for hot work”—much of the cutting is done using oxyacetylene cutters and these and gas do not go well together.
Since that order, dated 6 September, no ship has been given permission to beach by the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), a state government body that regulates shipping and ship-breaking in the region. Nor has any ship obtained the requisite certificate. Ship-breakers are required to obtain the certificate from the authority and Responsibilities of Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO), which was formerly known as the department of explosives.
However, 53 ships have beached at Alang since. An official at GMB, who did not wish to be identified, said there was little the board could do to prevent ships from beaching illegally.
SRIA, however, insists that the beaching is not illegal. “There is confusion as to which agency we are supposed to get the certificate from. When we go to PESO, they say that ‘we are not the agency’. Though we have got ‘gas free’ certificates from the directorate of safety and health, it is not being accepted by the GMB,” said Nikhil Gupta, joint secretary, SRIA.
PESO officials declined comment on the matter.
In a separate clarification application submitted to the Supreme Court by PESO in October 2007, the authority said only petroleum tankers or ships carrying oil as cargo should be required to get such certificates.
“This is very misleading. There is not much difference between petroleum and non- petroleum ships as far as hazards to workers are concerned,” said Gopal Krishna, coordinator, Indian Platform on Shipbreaking, an environmental activist group. In 2006, ships beached at Alang were besieged by various explosions.
In its last petition, SRIA had asked for this mandatory certification to be scrapped and that only Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) officials be required to board ships (to inspect them) and that too, only in the case of nuclear-powered vessels.
SRIA also claims that the 53 ships are just “lying there”, and that no work has been done on them. Mint could not immediately verify if no breaking work was happening on these ships. “We have 53 ships right now, which have paid 16% excise and 5% customs duty and they are just lying there. If this continues, then no owner will send their ships to India for recycling,” said Gupta. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, has asked the inter-ministerial committee, which includes officials from the CPCB, GMB, ministries of steel, labour, shipping, petroleum and environment and forests, activist groups and ship-breakers to submit a status report in eight weeks, after which the next hearing will be held.
Padmaparna Ghosh
Mint, 25/01/2008
2. 53 ships docked without safety norms, SC told
25 Jan 2008,
NEW DELHI: The 'Blue Lady' case, it seems, was a mere tip of the iceberg. The Ship Recycling Industries Association has admitted in the Supreme Court that 53 ships have been beached at the Alang ship-breaking yard without the requisite safety certificates as mandated by the apex court in its last order, handing another fait accompli to the courts and the government.
The 'Blue Lady' had been similarly beached pending decision by the court and had to be dismantled as the petitioners had claimed a beached ship cannot be withdrawn.
The court had in its order in September 2007 ordered that all ships being beached in India should compulsorily carry the "Certificates for Gas Free for Hot Work".
Since the September order, the nodal Gujarat Maritime Board has not given permission for ship-breaking because no shipbreaker has provided the requisite certificate.
The specific certificate is given by the government agency, Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).
The agency, on its part, has put in an affidavit in the apex court suggesting that only ships that used to carry oil should be checked.
The request runs counter to the recommendations of the Technical Experts Committee on hazardous waste set up by the apex court before delivering its last order. The committee had in October 2006 in its report recommended 'gas free' certificate for all ships that are to be beached in the country for breaking. The court had accepted their recommendation.
But now the shipbreaking industry has requested the courts to not only do away with these certificates but also ease the regulations on radioactive components on board the ships.
The ship breaking industry wants the regular ships not be checked for radioactive components on board before they are broken down at Alang. It has requested the court to require only nuclear-fuelled ships to be checked by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).
The industry has pleaded this despite a raging controversy having gripped the 'Blue Lady' case. Upon court ordered investigations, AERB had found radioactive material in the luxury liner. The radioactive material was found in the fire-safety devices on board the ship.
The Times of India
In September, the SC passed an order that said ships would be given permission to beach only after they obtain a certificate saying that they were gas free for hot work
New Delhi: Violating the Supreme Court’s September directive asking ships arriving in India to be scrapped to beach only after they meet a certain condition, 53 of them have beached at Gujarat’s Alang ship-breaking yard without doing so because the firms involved claim there is no clarity as to who will certify that they have met this condition.
The Ship Recycling Industries Association (SRIA), an industry lobby group for ship recyclers, admitted this in an application to the court, which is hearing an ongoing litigation on hazardous waste.
Ships have a certain lifespan after which their owners sell them as scrap. Ships need to be broken at ship-breaking yards such as the one at Alang before metal can be extracted from them. However, some of the ships contain gases and can explode even as workers use cutters to strip them of metal. Ships that have to be broken have to beach, or run themselves onto a beach from water, because it is easier to break them on land.
In September, the Supreme Court passed an order that said ships would be given permission to beach only after they obtain a certificate saying that they were “gas free for hot work”—much of the cutting is done using oxyacetylene cutters and these and gas do not go well together.
Since that order, dated 6 September, no ship has been given permission to beach by the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), a state government body that regulates shipping and ship-breaking in the region. Nor has any ship obtained the requisite certificate. Ship-breakers are required to obtain the certificate from the authority and Responsibilities of Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO), which was formerly known as the department of explosives.
However, 53 ships have beached at Alang since. An official at GMB, who did not wish to be identified, said there was little the board could do to prevent ships from beaching illegally.
SRIA, however, insists that the beaching is not illegal. “There is confusion as to which agency we are supposed to get the certificate from. When we go to PESO, they say that ‘we are not the agency’. Though we have got ‘gas free’ certificates from the directorate of safety and health, it is not being accepted by the GMB,” said Nikhil Gupta, joint secretary, SRIA.
PESO officials declined comment on the matter.
In a separate clarification application submitted to the Supreme Court by PESO in October 2007, the authority said only petroleum tankers or ships carrying oil as cargo should be required to get such certificates.
“This is very misleading. There is not much difference between petroleum and non- petroleum ships as far as hazards to workers are concerned,” said Gopal Krishna, coordinator, Indian Platform on Shipbreaking, an environmental activist group. In 2006, ships beached at Alang were besieged by various explosions.
In its last petition, SRIA had asked for this mandatory certification to be scrapped and that only Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) officials be required to board ships (to inspect them) and that too, only in the case of nuclear-powered vessels.
SRIA also claims that the 53 ships are just “lying there”, and that no work has been done on them. Mint could not immediately verify if no breaking work was happening on these ships. “We have 53 ships right now, which have paid 16% excise and 5% customs duty and they are just lying there. If this continues, then no owner will send their ships to India for recycling,” said Gupta. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, has asked the inter-ministerial committee, which includes officials from the CPCB, GMB, ministries of steel, labour, shipping, petroleum and environment and forests, activist groups and ship-breakers to submit a status report in eight weeks, after which the next hearing will be held.
Padmaparna Ghosh
Mint, 25/01/2008
2. 53 ships docked without safety norms, SC told
25 Jan 2008,
NEW DELHI: The 'Blue Lady' case, it seems, was a mere tip of the iceberg. The Ship Recycling Industries Association has admitted in the Supreme Court that 53 ships have been beached at the Alang ship-breaking yard without the requisite safety certificates as mandated by the apex court in its last order, handing another fait accompli to the courts and the government.
The 'Blue Lady' had been similarly beached pending decision by the court and had to be dismantled as the petitioners had claimed a beached ship cannot be withdrawn.
The court had in its order in September 2007 ordered that all ships being beached in India should compulsorily carry the "Certificates for Gas Free for Hot Work".
Since the September order, the nodal Gujarat Maritime Board has not given permission for ship-breaking because no shipbreaker has provided the requisite certificate.
The specific certificate is given by the government agency, Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).
The agency, on its part, has put in an affidavit in the apex court suggesting that only ships that used to carry oil should be checked.
The request runs counter to the recommendations of the Technical Experts Committee on hazardous waste set up by the apex court before delivering its last order. The committee had in October 2006 in its report recommended 'gas free' certificate for all ships that are to be beached in the country for breaking. The court had accepted their recommendation.
But now the shipbreaking industry has requested the courts to not only do away with these certificates but also ease the regulations on radioactive components on board the ships.
The ship breaking industry wants the regular ships not be checked for radioactive components on board before they are broken down at Alang. It has requested the court to require only nuclear-fuelled ships to be checked by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).
The industry has pleaded this despite a raging controversy having gripped the 'Blue Lady' case. Upon court ordered investigations, AERB had found radioactive material in the luxury liner. The radioactive material was found in the fire-safety devices on board the ship.
The Times of India
Comments
KARACHI: A Japanese ship weighing 16000 tonnes has anchored at Gadani for breaking.
Chairman Pakistan Ship Breakers Association Azam Malik said that the ship, built in 1980, is an oil tanker which has remained under the ownership of Total Petroleum Company.
The 810 ft long 14 metre wide and 65 ft high ship has a capacity to hold 90000 tonnes oil and used to transport oil from US to France.
The ship will be broken in the next three months. This will provide employment opportunities to hundreds of people, Azam said.
'Pakistan Times' Wire Service
Chittagong Ship breaking Yard: causing environmental problems
Scrap Ships provide about 80% of the country's steel needs. About 3 millions people are employed in the industry, among them 40 percent of the work force comprised by child labor. Chittagong ship breaking yard is a highly polluted coastal belt about 20km in length. The working conditions are very dangerous. Health and safety regulations for the workers are very poor. The industry, considering above-mentioned grim aspects, can be termed as a gift for a few, bane and curse for many and a catastrophic threat for the environment and aquatic lives.
Huge casualty has been occurring caused loss of lives every year. An alarming statistics shows such casualties left around 600 workers killed and another three thousand injured or disabled in the last 15 years. The casualties mainly result from oil or gas chamber blasts, flammable substances, fall from high places or sometime for heavy duty work load etc. The daily life of those labours who work full time inside is very poor.
Oil-spills from around 70 ship breaking yards has been endangering aquatic lives while yard enclosures make 16km beach at Solimpur, Shitakunda in Chittagong district out of bound for the fishermen.
The New Nation
I really found you by error, while I was browsing on Yahoo for something else, Anyhow I am here now and would just like to say kudos for a fantastic post and a all round exciting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to go through it all at the minute but I
have saved it and also added your RSS feeds, so
when I have time I will be back to read a great deal more, Please
do keep up the excellent jo.
Feel free to visit my web site - cleaning services phoenix
my webpage - house cleaning services phoenix
you know a few of the pictures aren't loading correctly. I'm not sure why but
I think its a linking issue. I've tried it in two different web browsers and both show the same results.
engineered hardwood floors
Here is my weblog hardwood flooring
you can write if not it is complex to write.
Feel free to surf to my webpage :: rdsocial.com
Also see my webpage :: hair treatment