Skip to main content

Beaching

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Ocean Engineering
  • 360 Accesses

Definition

Beaching, as a shipbreaking method, generally refers to dismantling ships at grounded condition in intertidal zones. In this method, a ship is emptied of cargo and ballast, then driven to coast on a high magnitude tide, and stranded on the beach. The workers access the vessel at low tide and start scrapping for recycling materials.

Scientific Fundamentals

History

Until the 1960s, shipbreaking activities mainly took place in industrialized countries and were conducted off the beach (FIDH 2002). The origin of the beaching can be traced to a Greek ship stranded accidentally on the beach of Sitakunda, Chittagong, during a cyclone in 1960. The vessel could not be refloated and so remained there for several years. In 1965, in East Pakistan, the then Chittagong Steel House bought the ship and had it scrapped on beach. From the early 1980s, the global shipbreaking activities started migrating to South Asian to increase profit (FIDH 2002). The industry developed rapidly in India,...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ahmed R, Siddiqui K (2013) Ship breaking industry in Pakistan-problems and prospects. Int J Manag IT Eng 3(9):140

    Google Scholar 

  • Alam S, Faruque A (2014) Legal regulation of the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh: the international regulatory framework and domestic implementation challenges. Mar Policy 47:46–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deshpande PC, Tilwankar AK, Asolekar SR (2012) A novel approach to estimating potential maximum heavy metal exposure to ship recycling yard workers in Alang, India. Sci Total Environ 438:304–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deshpande PC, Kalbar PP, Tilwankar AK, Asolekar SR (2013) A novel approach to estimating resource consumption rates and emission factors for ship recycling yards in Alang, India. J Clean Prod 59:251–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FIDH (2002) Where do the “floating dustbins” end up? Labour Rights in Shipbreaking Yards in South Asia – the cases of Chittagong (Bangladesh) and Alang (India). International Federation for Human Rights. No. 348/2, Dec 2002, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregson N, Crang M, Ahamed FU, Akter N, Ferdous R, Foisal S, Hudson R (2012) Territorial agglomeration and industrial symbiosis: Sitakunda-Bhatiary, Bangladesh, as a secondary processing complex. Econ Geogr 88(1):37–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasan AB, Kabir S, Reza AS, Zaman MN, Ahsan A, Rashid M (2013a) Enrichment factor and geo-accumulation index of trace metals in sediments of the ship breaking area of Sitakund Upazilla (Bhatiary–Kumira), Chittagong, Bangladesh. J Geochem Explor 125:130–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasan AB, Kabir S, Reza AS, Zaman MN, Ahsan MA, Akbor MA, Rashid MM (2013b) Trace metals pollution in seawater and groundwater in the ship breaking area of Sitakund Upazilla, Chittagong, Bangladesh. Mar Pollut Bull 71(1–2):317–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hossain MMM, Islam MM (2006) Ship breaking activities and its impact on the coastal zone of Chittagong, Bangladesh: towards sustainable management. Advocacy & Publication Unit, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), Chittagong

    Google Scholar 

  • NGO Shipbreaking Platform (2016) 2015 list of all ships scrapped worldwide – facts and figures. http://www.shipbreakingplatform.org/shipbrea_wp2011/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Stats-Graphs_2015-List_FINAL.pdf. Accessed 9 Jan 2019

  • NGO Shipbreaking Platform (2017) 2016 list of all ships scrapped worldwide – facts and figures. http://www.shipbreakingplatform.org/shipbrea_wp2011/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Stats-Graphs_2016-List_FINAL1.pdf. Accessed 9 Jan 2019

  • NGO Shipbreaking Platform (2018) 2017 list of all ships scrapped worldwide – facts and figures. http://www.shipbreakingplatform.org/shipbrea_wp2011/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/NGO-Shipbreaking-Platform-Stats-Graphs-2017-List.pdf. Accessed 9 Jan 2019

  • Patel V, Patel J, Madamwar D (2013) Biodegradation of phenanthrene in bioaugmented microcosm by consortium ASP developed from coastal sediment of Alang-Sosiya ship breaking yard. Mar Pollut Bull 74(1):199–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reddy MS, Basha S, Adimurthy S, Ramachandraiah G (2006) Description of the small plastics fragments in marine sediments along the Alang-Sosiya ship-breaking yard, India. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 68(3–4):656–660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yujuico E (2014) Demandeur pays: the EU and funding improvements in South Asian ship recycling practices. Transp Res A Policy Pract 67:340–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haiming Zhu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Zhu, H., Du, Z. (2019). Beaching. In: Cui, W., Fu, S., Hu, Z. (eds) Encyclopedia of Ocean Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6963-5_161-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6963-5_161-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-6963-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-6963-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

Publish with us

Policies and ethics