Data<\/a> from the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, which campaigns for improved ship-recycling standards, show that since 2009, 8,221 ships have ended up on South Asian beaches, 480 workers have died on the job, and 520 have been injured. The numbers don\u2019t account for pollution so severe that fish stocks have declined in these areas, putting local fishers out of work.<\/p>\n The future of Bangladesh\u2019s ship recycling industry now hinges on a dispute over two international treaties: the Basel Convention, which regulates the transboundary movement of hazardous waste, and the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC), a sector-specific treaty adopted under the International Maritime Organization (IMO).<\/p>\n Bangladesh ratified both conventions: Basel in 1993, and HKC in 2023. The latter came into force in 2025, while the former entered into force in 1992.<\/p>\n In November 2025, Bangladesh\u2019s interim government reportedly submitted<\/a> a policy position to the Basel Convention Secretariat, arguing that the Hong Kong Convention cannot replace the Basel Convention procedures governing the transboundary movement of end-of-life ships. The submission proposed that both conventions should continue to apply simultaneously to the shipbreaking industry.<\/p>\n This upset Bangladeshi shipbreakers, who said the move could make ship recycling more costly and complicated, and that it might lead to the closure of the industry in the country. The Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association (BSBRA) has urged the new government, which took office in February, to withdraw that position.<\/p>\n In 2004, it was the countries that had signed up to Basel who invited the IMO to develop mandatory international rules specifically for ship recycling, eventually leading to the adoption of the Hong Kong Convention in 2009. However, they never agreed that the HKC provides an equivalent level of environmental protection.<\/p>\n Beaching remains the biggest divide<\/p>\n The most contentious difference between the two conventions concerns \u201cbeaching,\u201d the method in which ships are deliberately grounded on tidal beaches before being dismantled.<\/p>\n Basel\u2019s \u201cTechnical Guidelines for the Environmentally Sound Management of the Full and Partial Dismantling of Ships\u201d require dismantling activities to take place on impermeable surfaces capable of containing hazardous materials, effectively ruling out traditional beaching. The HKC, however, permits beaching, provided that shipbreaking yards meet specified safety and environmental standards.<\/p>\n For Bangladeshi recyclers, this distinction is crucial.<\/p>\n Mohammad Mohsin Chowdhury, president of the BSBRA, told Mongabay that the Hong Kong Convention is better suited to South Asia\u2019s economic realities, calling it \u201ccustomized for the subcontinent\u2019s reality: its [work] culture, community and environment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFollowing any convention is difficult for us given the human resources we have; we still want our future generation to have a safe environment, and we are working on bringing shipbreaking under regulation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cSince we are following HKC regulations, improving the industry and enjoying the benefits, we don\u2019t see why include Basel into shipbreaking affair. It will be an extended burden for shipbreakers.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether Basel\u2019s opposition to beaching is why shipbreakers oppose it, Chowdhury said: \u201cThis is one of the main reasons, but I think Basel is not concerned about protecting our industry. Following Basel regulations may lead to the closure of the shipbreaking industry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHKC is more suitable for us,\u201d he reiterated. \u201cBasel thinks about the environment, but nothing can be changed overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n Commercial shipbreaking in Bangladesh began<\/a> in the early 1970s, and the sector boomed in the 1980s, turning the country into a major global hub for ship recycling. But dire working conditions, high rates of fatalities, exploitation of underaged workers, and severe pollution of the marine environment by hazardous waste continued unabated for around five decades. The industry only started to pay heed when many industrialized countries began to ban the beaching method for the dismantling of ships registered in their jurisdictions, and started pushing for a safer environment for workers.<\/p>\n The EU Ship Recycling Regulation, adopted in 2013, strictly prohibits the beaching method used in South Asia, and requires all European-flagged vessels to be dismantled at certified \u201cgreen\u201d yards, predominantly located in Europe, Turkey, and North America. European ship owners account for around 30% of the world\u2019s fleet in tonnage.<\/a><\/p>\n According to the BSBRA, 23 shipbreaking yards in Bangladesh\u2019s Chattogram region received green certification under the Hong Kong Convention. However, none of them are listed on the official EU list<\/a> of approved ship-recycling facilities.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is definitely a great loss for us, but ship dismantling on dry docks is very expensive,\u201d Chowdhury said. \u201cWe\u2019ll need to spend a whole year\u2019s budget to build just one dry dock.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Basel Convention is partial [to developed countries], maybe it wants to protect their interests,\u201d he added. \u201cPerhaps they want ships to be recycled in an expensive way, and we end up buying more expensive products made with the salvaged metal.\u201d<\/p>\n Environmentalists call for stricter standards<\/p>\n Environmental activists have rejected the industry\u2019s argument.<\/p>\n Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), led the country\u2019s environment ministry in 2025 as an adviser to the interim government at the time. She questioned why the ministry should permit shipbreaking on beaches if the Basel Convention prohibits it.<\/p>\n She also said the Hong Kong Convention primarily reflects the interests of the shipping industry, given that it\u2019s administered by the IMO.<\/p>\n \u201cHKC is monitored by IMO. IMO is a clubhouse of shipowners. It is protecting their interests,\u201d Rizwana Hasan said.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody wants their waste-laden ships nowadays. Pakistan used to scrap them, now they don\u2019t do that much; shipbreakers in Kolkata, Madras in India don\u2019t take them \u2026 only Gujarat and Bangladesh do,\u201d she said. \u201cSouth Korea stopped it, while China has banned beaching through legal processes.\u201d<\/p>\n She also accused local shipbreakers of not wanting to be regulated \u2014 \u201cThat\u2019s why they don\u2019t want to comply with Basel Convention\u201d \u2014 and alleged that Bangladesh continues to import hazardous ships through inaccurate declarations \u2014 something that Basel is specifically designed to prevent.<\/p>\n Rejecting claims that stronger environmental rules would destroy the industry, Rizwana Hasan cited the example of Bangladesh\u2019s garment sector after the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse<\/a>, which killed more than 1,100 people and prompted sweeping reforms to improve workplace safety.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone thought the garment industry would collapse,\u201d she said. \u201cInstead, compliance improved and the industry became stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n Noting that Bangladesh had ratified the Basel Convention decades ago, Rizwana Hasan said that \u201cno new position has been taken; what we did is a reiteration of what is existing.\u201d<\/p>\n Many environmental organizations argue that the Hong Kong Convention still falls short of guaranteeing environmentally sound ship recycling. Ingvild Jenssen, founder and executive director of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, said the convention requires significant strengthening.<\/p>\n \u201cClearly, the Hong Kong Convention does not set a standard that ensures safe and environmentally sound practices,\u201d she said in a statement<\/a> on the organization\u2019s website. \u201cNow under review at the IMO, it will be key to bolster its requirements, including ways to phase out the fatally flawed beaching method. At the same time, better enforcement of the Basel Convention\u2019s restrictions on hazardous waste trade needs to be ensured through measures that effectively hold the shipping industry accountable. This entails shifting responsibility to the states that actually have control over the owners of assets intended for disposal.\u201d<\/p>\n Banner image: A shipbreaker with a sledgehammer amidst ship parts, Chittagong. Image by Adam Cohn via Flickr<\/a> (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<\/a>).<\/p>\n Illegal e-waste trade turns Bangladesh into net importer<\/a><\/p>\n Bangladesh struggles to enforce \u2018polluter pays\u2019 principle amid legal delays<\/a><\/p>\n Feedback: Use this form<\/a> to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n Cite this articleAshraful Haque (2026). Bangladesh shipbreakers push back against stricter environmental standards. Mongabay Conservation news. DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.66709\/news-324568<\/a> <\/p>\n ![\"Shipbreaking](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/shipbreaking-pollution.jpg\")
<\/a>Shipbreaking in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Shipbreaking is so hazardous that the industry was shut down in industrialized countries in the 1960s, displaced to less-industrialized countries, particularly in South Asia. Image by Adam Cohn via Flickr<\/a> (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<\/a>).
\nGovernment position sparks industry concern<\/p>\n![\"Shipbreakers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/shipbreaking-bangladesh-2.jpg\")
<\/a>Shipbreakers working in Jafrabad, Chittagong. Image by St\u00e9phane M. Grueso via Flickr<\/a> (CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>).<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/49027385441_403d33e529_k.jpg\")
<\/a>A scrapper cutting metal in the shipbreaking yard in Chittagong. Image by Adam Cohn via Flickr<\/a> (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<\/a>).
\nEurope\u2019s standards remain out of reach<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/shipbreaker-bangladesh.jpg\")
<\/a>Dire working conditions, high rates of fatalities, exploitation of underaged workers, and severe pollution of the marine environment by hazardous waste from commercial shipbreaking have continued unabated for around five decades in Bangladesh. Image by Adam Cohn via Flickr<\/a> (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<\/a>).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2e40cd5a19d914bb07becd3757e46155bb352302bf6decd3832d7c45af4019a7.png\")
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