The Ship Breakers Of Bangladesh

By: Daniel Schorn

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But the owners of the yards argue that environmentalism is a luxury, reserved for the rich nations.

"It becomes quite expensive, which we can't afford," Mohsin claims.

"If all the rules and regulations, all the international conventions regarding ship breaking were observed here, would the industry be able to survive?" Simon asks Mohsin,

"No," he replies. "It would be stopped from tomorrow. It'll stop. Has to be stopped."

And that, he says, would put 30,000 men out of work and deprive Bangladesh of its source of steel.

But for now the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh is sailing full steam ahead. Literally. 60 Minutes boarded a Russian fishing trawler, the Bata, in the final hours of its last voyage.

It was eerie walking through the corridors. The lights were on but nobody was home. It was a dead ship sailing.

In a sailor's cabin, the sheets were on the bed, a radio and a flashlight were on the table. In the kitchen, there were pots filled with borscht and potatoes that were barely cold.

In the dining room there were still Russian books on a table. They too will end up in the market on that dusty road to Chittagong. There was just a skeleton crew on this skeleton ship

Up on the bridge, Captain Edwaard Petenko already seemed dressed up for his coming vacation. He had brought the ship all the way from Vladivostok and didn't enjoy the trip.

Asked what it feels like taking the ship to the beach, Petenko tells Simon, "No like."

"No like. Sometimes even cry. Because…" Capt. Petenko says.

He wasn't even in charge any more. The baton had passed to the beaching captain, Enam Chowdrey. He had done this 700 times. They call him the executioner.

Beaching a ship is a very delicate operation. It's not simply aiming for the beach - Chowdrey has to calculate the movement of the tides, the swell, the wind, by the minute. In this instance, he has got to wedge the ship between two other vessels already parked there.

The workers on ships nearby are cheering. The Bata's arrival means more work, more wages for them. Their backs and their lungs will suffer, but do they have a choice?

The Bata steamed its way into its final resting place. The bow got stuck in the sand. A perfect end to the last voyage. In just a few months, it will disappear.

And Captain Petenko? He'll head home to Vladivostock. But he'll be back in Bangladesh soon. His company has three more trawlers heading to these shipyards.

U.S. Naval and Merchant Marine ships no longer wind up in these yards, not since 1998, when President Clinton passed a moratorium on exporting U.S. ships. Instead, they clog up American waterways. U.S. ship breakers can't keep pace and the Bangladeshis would be only to happy to have their business.
Produced By Michael Gavshon

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by janmha February 28, 2012 9:02 AM EST: Dear reader,
If you are interested in ship breaking in Bangladesh, check this link:
http://janmoellerhansen.smugmug.com/Bangladesh/When-ships-die/21351802_B7fnj6#!i=1707651835&k=gCJTV9B

Jan Moeller Hansen; Reply to this comment


by fullest February 17, 2012 6:24 AM EST: are there any party interested in setting up of a ship scrapping facility in the west coast of africa,there are so many ship here to be scrapped; Reply to this comment


by janmha February 15, 2012 10:57 AM EST: http://janmoellerhansen.smugmug.com/Bangladesh/When-ships-die/21351802_B7fnj6#!i=1707651835&k=gCJTV9B; Reply to this comment


by smatterchu July 17, 2010 3:29 PM EDT: Hey, liberal hypocrites at CBS... What happened to not imposing our Western culture and value system on the rest of the world (a typical far-left mantra). But then you want to use their conditions to bash capitalism. By local standards, their "slightly more than $1/day" wage is pretty darn good. And I would bet that you could find plenty of other places where their work conditions didn't meet OSHA standards. Follow those ship parts to the steel mills where it's recycled. Follow their output to the local manufacturer. What do the people in those industries make per day? What are their working conditions? You stand in judgment with your hands on your hips and disgustedly mutter, "There ought to be a law against that?" Perhaps the owner of that company should close up shop and let all those people and their families starve? No? How would you take care of them -- taxpayer-funded social programs like we have here? They don't have the tax base for that. Everyone's poor and there's no middle class to bleed dry. This is America's future. The money for social programs will (has!) run out, and it will be either work anywhere you can draw a wage or starve. At the expense of the rest of the nation, we have only delayed the return of our own poor to similar conditions. And our new egalitarian health care system will only guarantee that, though we will all pay heavily to be a part, the only people who will get truly professional, timely medical service will be those who afterwards still have plenty of cash on hand to pay for it out of their own pockets. Everyone else will be in the queue. Getting closer to social justice? Providing hope? Decidedly not! But boy, what a Change!; Reply to this comment


by hollwood1 April 27, 2009 9:11 AM EDT: HEY I REALLY LIK DHIS WEBSITE !!!!! ITS SOOOO AWSOME PLP SHOULD START GETTIN ON MORE !!! MII TEACHER AT MII SK00L T0LD ME B0UT DHIS N ITS S000 K00L LIK T0TALLY YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!! SINGED N MADE BY HOLLYW00D_ AKA SHA-SHA; Reply to this comment


by wringxgs September 3, 2007 11:00 PM EDT: Please explain the economics of buying a 4000 ton ship for $14,000,000 when scrap steel sells for $250 a ton. Are you sure the price wasn''t 14,000,000 Thaka which would have been $385,000?; Reply to this comment

by micamm September 3, 2007 5:30 PM EDT

Your report is factually correct. I was there last year, in the mud, and talking to the workers (through a translator). You can see my photos on my website GlobalGayz.com:
http://www.globalgayz.com/BDChittagongShipBreakingYard/index.html
But your slant is obviously in the direction of ''look at these poor downtrodden slaves''. These are not ''miserable'' people. Look closely at their faces and you don''t see the tension and anxiety of American corporate workers! They are workers who know nothing else and don''t particularly want anything else. They work 7AM to 11PM with a two hour mid-day break, get paid a low but reliable income; their kids go to school (I saw no child workers in the yard; upper teens yes, children no)--and many somewhat cheerful faces--not necessarily happy, but not miserable. They work with their friends; all feel equal. They have little and little to worry about.
The conditions are daunting but not wholly, the pace is calm and there are numerous periods of waiting during the day as the ship parts are taken apart.
It is not the horror show you portray. It''s dirty and rough but far from hell.

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by kloneranger July 23, 2010 9:58 AM EDT: OK - so it's not so horrible and they're happy. Now, lets turn the tables - Would YOU be willing to do it? Regardless of your current situation and what you know in life, take all that away, would YOU be happy and smiling? Doubtful.


by fairandbal September 3, 2007 11:59 AM EDT: CBS is doing a great favor to American Capitolists with this piece. CBS is saying, look, be satisfied with your stagnant wages, no health care, ever increasing work hours away from family your jobs being oursourced. Be satisfied with CEO''s making 400% more than you while you work longer and longer.
You could be stripping ships.; Reply to this comment


by gingerlime September 3, 2007 10:47 AM EDT: "As close as you%u2019ll get to hell on earth" you say? Don''t forget Katrina. Many have, and none should.; Reply to this comment


by dougfromeagan September 3, 2007 1:10 AM EDT: CBS trying to harpoon Capitalism? The same network to bring you "Harvest of Shame"?
Yet again you provide only the side of the story that attacks the greatest philosophy the world will ever know - Capitalism! Shame on you CBS, to propagate the Marxist view point to your American Capitalist audience! We too had child labor. We too had poor working conditions. We too had a low starting point. But it was the Capitalists, the entrepreneurs that saw the potential for the creation of wealth and risked everything to make a better world for themselves and as a byproduct, raise the standard of living for all of us!

It was President Kennedy that said, "...a rising tide lifts all boats". He was right then and now.; Reply to this comment