Tide not in favour, Alang sees lowest tonnage of a decade

RAJKOT: Even as the central government has announced doubling India's ship recycling capacity by 2024, Alang, Asia's biggest ship breaking yard, has witnessed its lowest tonnage of the decade.
The number of ships coming to Alang has plummeted from 415 in 2011-12 with 38.57 lakh light displacement tonnage (LDT) to 209 vessels with 14.11 lakh LDT in 2021-22.

LDT is the weight of the ship excluding cargo, fuel, passengers and crew.India can't achieve its goal without complying with the European Union's regulations for hazardous waste management and safety of the workers.
The major reasons for the reduction include high freight charges and globally high steel prices.
Chetan Patel, a ship broker in Alang, said, "The price of ships coming for dismantling is soaring because of high steel prices worldwide. In 2020-21, the price per ton was $280, which has now increased to $650 now. There are many small shipbreakers who find this price unaffordable and don't buy new ships. The high freight charges after Covid-19 also reduced the number of ships being sent for dismantling by the shipping lines."
According to ship breakers, in the last financial year alone, only passenger and tanker ships and no container vessels came for dismantling.
According to industry experts, India is not getting European-flagged ships for dismantling because the country is not compliant with EU regulations of waste management.
The EU inspected Alang facility for compliance in 2018 and 2019 on the request of Shree Ram Vessel Scrap Pvt Ltd after the group applied in an individual capacity to be included in the list of European recycling facilities.
The report submitted to Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) and the Union government flagged lack of adequate medical facilities for the workers in Alang as a major issue.
The GMB multispeciality hospital has limited emergency capabilities and the only public hospital equipped to treat serious injuries is in Bhavnagar, which is 1.5 hours away.
The EU also raised waste disposal management stating that Alang's treatment storage and disposal facility (TSDF) site does not handle e-waste, batteries etc. Mukesh Patel, chairman, Shree Ram Group said, "The audit of my yard was completed in 2019 and I have all the facilities as per EU regulations, but some like the best hospital have to be created by the If we comply with the EU regulations, we can get at least 100 more ships every year."
Haresh Parmar, secretary, Ship Recycling Industries Association of India (SRIA), said "We are paying high fixed charges to comply with safety and waste management standards as per Hong Kong convention to GMB. Pakistan and Bangladesh don't have to comply with the norms, so they can pay more for the ships. The government should give us relief from fixed costs and comply with EU laws to boost business."