Affiliations: School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing
Engineering, RMIT University Bundoora East Campus, Plenty Road, PO Box 71,
Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia
Abstract: Ship breaking industry is one of the important industries for
developing economies. It provides employment, economic prosperity and much
needed re-useable materials for country's economic development. Ship breaking
industry is green per se as it allows using scrap metals and other machineries
for vertical and horizontal recycling. It provides raw materials for national
economic activities including industrialization, construction, and building and
infrastructure development. Ship breaking is crucial especially for Bangladesh
as it does not have any natural resources including iron ore except the natural
gas. Although ship breaking is economically beneficial but it comes with a huge
environmental and occupational health and safety cost. Ship breaking industries
have been developed through unplanned and unscientific ways in most developing
countries. In this study, a systematic and sustainable approach to ship
breaking activities has been proposed. With proper implementation, it will not
only safeguard the environment and occupational health and safety but also
improve productivity, profit margin and national economic prosperity. The
proposed approach can be replicated in most developing countries with little or
no modification.
