Gadani is the world's third biggest shipbreaking hub. But many ships come there illegally from Europe, the Middle East, and China. We went to Pakistan to figure out why international laws are being ignored.
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00:00This is where some of the largest ships in the world come to die, the Ghadani Yard in Pakistan.
00:12But the place is also a death trap for the hundreds of men who work to break down
00:18these rusted giants for as little as four dollars a day.
00:22Some of these vessels are here illegally, like the cruise ship Antares Experience,
00:34which came from Greece. International laws ban many foreign countries from dumping their
00:41toxic old ships on the beaches of developing countries for environmental reasons. Still,
00:47loopholes allow these giants to come here from China, the Middle East and Europe
00:52through indirect routes. Shipping companies deliberately lie to authorities. They do not
00:59disclose that their true intention is to scrap these ships in the worst possible yards located
01:07on the beaches of South Asia. Meanwhile, most workers here come from far-off villages
01:14and have never even seen the ocean or a ship before.
01:18So why are these vessels ending up on the shores of Pakistan?
01:23And who is responsible for the safety of these underpaid workers
01:27propping up a billion-dollar recycling industry?
01:30This 85,000-ton Greek carrier supplied coal around the world. But after sailing for 21 years,
01:40the Enterprise Majuro is falling apart. At 150 feet tall and 900 feet long, this beast
01:49will take a fleet of 200 workers a day to clean up the wreckage.
01:54And 900 feet long, this beast will take a fleet of 200 workers about three months to fillet for
02:01its parts. Many of them live right on the yard, like Azam Khan, who moved here from northern Pakistan.
02:10These huts belong to the boss of this ship lot. And the men live here rent-free as long as they
02:17work six days a week and don't go outside past 8pm. No one here has clean running water. And they all
02:27share a communal bathroom. And no one here has clean running water. And they all share a communal
02:39bathroom.
02:52Azam bandages his shoes for extra protection.
03:09Azam's main job is to break up smaller parts once they've been separated from the rods that hold the
03:15body of the ship.
03:17Gadani gets mostly cargo carriers, oil tankers, and cruise liners.
03:23Like this 1994 Carnival Fascination.
03:29Gadani gets mostly cargo carriers, oil tankers, and cruise liners.
03:35Like this 1994 Carnival Fascination.
03:37Gadani gets mostly cargo carriers, oil tankers, and cruise liners.
03:43Like this 1994 Carnival Fascination, which sailed around the Caribbean to Miami until its features became outdated.
03:53The ship was sold to a Chinese cruise company, which soon decided to sell it for scrap.
03:57to sell it for scrap.
04:01To break down vessels here,
04:03workers use what's called the gravity method.
04:06They mostly let the parts fall on their own.
04:14But that's how accidents can happen,
04:16says Mohammad Ashraf, who has worked here for half his life.
04:27Tractors drag the larger parts to shore,
04:38where workers break them down.
04:43Ashraf has to take apart this entire chamber.
04:52In the water, the electric current
04:54could kill him in an instant.
04:58Most ships don't make it past the age of 30.
05:01Their insides begin to rust.
05:06Many contain poisonous chemicals like asbestos,
05:09residual oil, and toxic paint.
05:13And breathing the dust can cause permanent lung damage
05:17or death.
05:20Nearly 2,000 people have been severely injured
05:24or killed on this beach since the late 1960s.
05:29But that number is likely much higher.
05:32Many workers disappear or drown under falling parts,
05:36and their deaths often don't get tracked.
05:41An international law enacted in 1992
05:44technically requires countries to document all toxic waste
05:48before sending their ships abroad.
05:50But experts say this is often ignored.
05:53A lot of vessels that are reaching
05:55the shores of South Asia for breaking
05:57receive import clearance based on fake documents.
06:02These documents declare the vessels are toxic-free.
06:08Workers, when they will take these vessels apart,
06:11they will face risks they are completely unaware of.
06:19Shipbreaking became a big business
06:21in Pakistan in the 1980s, after Europe
06:24began regulating ship waste pollution on its own shores.
06:28That's when many developed nations
06:30started sending their vessels off
06:32to countries with lax environmental regulations
06:35and cheap labor.
06:36The industry grew across South Asia,
06:39with yards expanding rapidly in Pakistan, India,
06:43and Bangladesh.
06:45In the late 80s and 90s, reports of accidents,
06:49poor work conditions, and child labor
06:52started to come out, triggering a wave of international laws
06:56that tried to regulate the business.
06:59Nowadays, developed countries aren't technically
07:02allowed to send their ships to places
07:04that don't have the same environmental standards
07:06and labor laws.
07:08But it happens anyway.
07:11Like with the Antares experience,
07:13which came from Greece illegally.
07:16We reached out to the ship's most recent recorded owners
07:19and operators, but did not get a response.
07:23But the most common paths are legal loopholes.
07:26For example, a European shipping company
07:29could get away with sending its vessel for scrapping
07:32to Pakistan if it first sends it to another country that's
07:36allowed to export it there.
07:38Another way to get around the law
07:40is by registering a ship under countries
07:42with lax regulations, known as flags of convenience.
07:47Like the Enterprise, which was owned by a Greek company,
07:51but registered under the Marshall Islands,
07:54a country known for its low taxes.
07:57Reports of the ships beached in Ghani in 2023 and 2024
08:01show that most were registered under other flags
08:04of convenience.
08:07But were usually owned by companies in China,
08:10the Middle East, and Greece.
08:14I say that if we send a ship,
08:16we poor people can work here and earn a living
08:19and go back to our homes.
08:2444-year-old Javed Iqbal sorts the parts Ashraf Qatsa.
08:29But like most here, he doesn't have a license
08:31to handle the screen.
08:33He says no one's ever asked for it.
08:45Javed moved here 20 years ago
08:47and has been working as a carpenter for over 20 years.
08:51He's been working for over 20 years.
08:53He's been working for over 20 years.
08:55He's been working for over 20 years.
08:57Javed moved here 25 years ago.
08:59He sees his wife and three children once a year
09:03if he can afford time off.
09:16Crane operators like Javed are among the best paid on the lot.
09:21But many workers here usually make about $4 a day,
09:25less than the $6 minimum wage in Pakistan,
09:28which buys two gallons of milk there.
09:31Despite attempts to regulate the business,
09:33cheap labor and pollution are still a problem
09:36in yards across South Asia.
09:39But the Aliaga yard in Turkey says it's different
09:42and that it's developed a recycling infrastructure
09:45designed to handle toxic waste.
09:47That's partly why it's become
09:49one of the most popular destinations
09:51for Europe's old ships.
09:53But reports show that Aliaga is heavily polluted
09:57with toxic substances.
09:59Now there's a new law, the Hong Kong Convention,
10:03which is set to take effect in June 2025.
10:06On paper, it aims to make more parties,
10:09from the ship's owner to its flag state
10:12to the country that recycles it,
10:14responsible for safely disposing of it.
10:17The agreement requires every arriving ship
10:20to have an inventory of its hazardous waste
10:24and a clear plan for how to handle it.
10:27Before accepting a vessel,
10:28each yard needs to submit a recycling plan
10:31to its government and provide proof
10:34that they can do this without contaminating the environment
10:38or compromising workers' safety.
10:41India, Bangladesh, and Turkey have all signed the treaty
10:45and have begun updating their yards.
10:48Pakistan was the last major ship-breaking country
10:51to sign the convention,
10:53but it has done little to modernize its practices.
10:57Pakistan is one of the worst destinations
11:00for end-of-life vessels.
11:03And experts say the new law may not change much.
11:07It was crafted by the shipping industry itself.
11:11It's like putting the fox in charge of managing the chickens.
11:16If a convention will not be enforced properly
11:19and interpreted in a strict way,
11:22rubber-stamp current substandard practices,
11:25it will greenwash the whole sector.
11:28What today is illegal and unethical
11:32will suddenly become legal and okay.
11:37And people who have worked here their whole lives
11:40worry about that too.
11:53Azam had other family members who worked here too.
11:57But in 2016, an old oil tanker exploded
12:02while it was getting broken down.
12:04The blast claimed the lives of at least 29 men.
12:08Azam's relatives were among them.
12:11The explosion left another 60 people
12:13severely burned or disabled for life.
12:16Workers we spoke with said, since the incident,
12:19their employers have first aid and ambulances on standby.
12:23The closest hospital is about six miles away.
12:26But it isn't equipped to handle serious cases.
12:30The badly injured have to travel one hour to Karachi.
12:36We live in the jungle and we have to feed ourselves there.
12:40We couldn't reach Azam's family.
12:43We couldn't reach the manager of the lot Azam Khan works on,
12:46but we spoke with the chairman
12:47of the Pakistan Shipbreakers Association.
12:50He also runs a ship lot here.
13:13That's about $750 paid to the family of a worker
13:17who died on the job.
13:18But activists say that families are often not notified
13:22since many workers don't have proof of employment.
13:25Farooqui says that's not true.
13:42We follow the formalities of the government,
13:46the labour laws and other laws.
13:52Gadoni is divided into 132 lots.
13:56Some are owned by private landowners
13:58and others by the government,
14:00which leases the lots to private companies.
14:03But these days, many are vacant
14:05because getting a ship to Pakistan has gotten so expensive.
14:09For example, the folks who bought the Enterprise Majuro
14:12from its Greek owners paid about $10 million for it.
14:17Then they had to pay a 17% customs tax
14:20to the Pakistani government
14:22and another 17% tax on all the parts of the ship
14:25that were resellable.
14:27There's also a 1% regional tax in Gadoni.
14:31All this adds up to roughly $13.5 million.
14:36It's unclear if lot owners actually pay all the taxes.
14:40Many have been accused of exploiting government connections
14:43to skirt regulations.
14:45But shipyard owners say getting these vessels here
14:48ultimately helps the workers, too.
15:01Once a ship is broken apart,
15:03workers salvage everything from desks and cabinets,
15:07which can be resold as wood scraps,
15:09down to the screws and cables
15:11that once held all the ship's parts together.
15:28In fact, up to 95% of a ship's remains
15:32can return a profit.
15:34A ship's steel hull is among the most prized of its parts.
15:39The manager of this ship lot can resell it to metal mills
15:42for millions of dollars.
15:47The Gadoni shipyard salvages
15:49about 1.5 million tons of steel a year,
15:53accounting for 20% of all the steel Pakistan uses.
15:58It takes about 400 trucks
16:00to move just one ship's remains to their next destination.
16:04This truck is off to a factory in Lahore.
16:26Then they sort the scrap into piles
16:28depending on the shape and type of metal.
16:34Workers cut the ship walls into rectangles
16:37to fit this slicing machine.
16:54This crew got here at 4.30 a.m.,
16:57and they won't finish until 8 p.m.
17:0216-hour shifts are standard here.
17:10These links were once part of a chain
17:12used to anchor a ship.
17:15Workers have to heat this to over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit
17:19to make the links easier to reshape.
17:22That process emits toxic vapors,
17:25which could permanently scar a worker's lungs.
17:39At this factory, they usually repurpose
17:42about 10 to 15 tons of scrap a day,
17:46which helps reduce the nation's demand for mining new steel.
17:50Most of the repurposed metal ends up
17:52at construction sites across Pakistan,
17:55where it's used to build bridges, roads, and buildings.
18:01Every year, about 1,000 ships
18:04need to find their final resting place,
18:06where they'll get scrapped and recycled.
18:10Azam isn't sure how many more he'll break down
18:12within his lifetime,
18:14but he says he knows that one day,
18:17this beach will become his graveyard, too.