SHIP BREAKING INDUSTRY

Ship Breaking is as old as ship building. It was being done
by local craftmen as they were wooden vessels in good days.

Ship Breaking became an Industrial activity with the
introduction of steel vessel. It was considered as Scrap Business
in earlier days. A realization emerged afterwards that this is a
recycling Industry. Where various types of material made
available from a broken ship is being recycled for another use.

Ship breaking is the process of dismantling a ship that has been
retired from active use.The idea behind this process is to salvage
as much of the material from the ship as possible and recycle the
components in some manner. Also known as ship demolition and
ship recycling, ship breaking is usually employed when the cost
of repairing the ship and keeping it in active use can no longer
be justified.

For most of the 20th century, the majority of the ship
breaking activity in the world was carried out in Great Britain
and the United States.

During the final half of the century, shipyards that engaged
in ship breaking began to appear
in various countries around the Middle East as well as in South
America. By the beginning of the 21st century, ship breaking had
become a common task that is performed in many shipyards around
the world.

Part of the attraction for ship breaking today has to do
with the practical use of available resources. As part of the
process, components that can be salvaged from the ship are
removed first. This can include everything from engine parts to
sleeping bunks and even bulkheads. Once the vessel is stripped of
all components that can be cleaned and reused in other ships, the
remainder of the hull undergoes a process of demolition that
often leads to breaking down the shell and selling the pieces as
scrap metal.

The scrap metal obtained from ship breaking sometimes
undergoes a melting and purification process that allows the
metal to be remolded and used to create new components that are
incorporated into new ships. This process makes it possible to
constantly recycle materials and can often help decrease the cost
associated with the production of newer ships.

Not all the materials that are separated in a ship breaking
process can be reused or recycled into new components. The
asbestos used in many ships prior to the middle 20th century is
disposed of and no reused in new construction. In addition,
paints and other sealants that contain high levels of lead and
other toxins that are no longer in use must be removed from the
components before harvesting of the materials can take place. In
some cases, addressing the proper disposal of contaminants that
cause a threat to the environment constitute a major part of the
expense of the effort.