Start-up for India’s first ’green’ shipbreaker

Archiv – A new ’green’ ship recycling facility is to begin operating in India’s shipbreaking region of Alang as the local industry attempts to shed its negative image.India | A new ’green’ ship recycling facility is to begin operating in India’s shipbreaking region of Alang as the local industry attempts to shed its negative image.
Under pressure to improve workers’ conditions and reduce pollution in the region, India’s Supreme Court demanded in September last year that the country’s shipbreakers clean up their act. Leela Recycling Yard began making changes ahead of the ruling and has recently begun processing its first ship. Describing the facility as one of the most advanced in India, Managing Director Komal Sharma told the ’Lloyds List’ shipping magazine: ’We have begun the cold work of removing the pollutants from the ship. We are doing it the green way.’
Mr Sharma expected the new recycling approach to take 20% longer ’as my people need to change their mindset’. But he added: ’It will become quicker as they become used to the processes.’
Mr Sharma is fully confident that Leela’s new facilities will meet the strictest standards expected from international bodies such as the International Maritime Organisation, the International Labour Organisation, the International Standards Organisation and the European Union.
He went on to explain the difficulty involved in breaking a vessel in an environmentally-sound way without first obtaining an environmentally-sound vessel. However, with pressure being placed on ship owners as well as breakers, he decided to forge ahead with the changes in order to convince owners to send their ships to his facility.