Alang goes green
Ship recycling plots in Alang, home to the world’s largest stretch of shipbreaking facilities in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district, beached 196 ships in calendar year 2020 for dismantling, benefiting from the green recycling policies of global ship owners for their end-of-life ships.
In comparison, sub-continent rivals Bangladesh beached 150 ships and Pakistan 95 ships. In 2019, Alang beached 186 ships for recycling.
Over 90 of the 120 working plots at Alang are certified for compliance with green recycling standards prescribed by the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 2009.
“Alang managed to get steady business despite the pandemic,” said Anand Hiremath, Head, Research and Development and Lead Coordinator, Responsible Ship Recycling at Global Marketing Systems, Inc (GMS), the world’s biggest cash buyer of ships for demolition. “More than 90 gree