Significant steps in ship recycling vis-a-vis wastes generated in a cluster of yards in Alang: a case study

Dismantling and recycling of end-of-life vessels in the so-called environmentally friendly manner has been a major challenge faced by ship owners, ship dismantling yard owners as well as government agencies worldwide today. On one-hand, this paper intends to provide the knowledge-base needed by individual yard owners for planning their short term and long term activities. On the other hand it is hoped that this paper will serve as an essential part of the management information system which will help in governance of cluster of ship dismantling yards. The emission factors estimated in this study using field sample survey of 241 ships dismantled during 2011-2013 in the cluster at Alang Port could be put to use while predicting the quantities of wastes generated from dismantling of six types of ships (bulk carrier, general cargo, container, refrigerator and passenger) which further can be used in preparing environmental management plan to handle the same. The % ships and % cumulative LDT of ships in a given category could also be predicted for the cluster using the validated results reported in this study. Finally, on the basis of primary data collected from over 100 yards in Alang Port and with the help of face-to-face interactions with several field personnel; a typical ship dismantling and recycling procedure was articulated. It is argued that the in-depth understanding of the prevailing know-how alone can help in development and diffusion of cleaner technologies for benefit of this sector and facilitate in instituting the integrated waste management system that will eventually ensure safe and environmentally friendly ship recycling - especially in the context of Ship Recycling Regulation recently passed by the European Parliament as well as the draft of Hong Kong Convention, being negotiated at the International Maritime Organization. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.