Ship owners and builders
When ships like oil tankers and cargo vessels pass their use by date they are broken up for scrap. Large ships are generally built by companies in countries like Japan, South Korea and Germany, but when it comes time for recycling and disposal they are sent to Pakistan, Bangladesh, India... Here thousands of low paid workers use basic tools to strip and break up the pollution-saturated hulls. The activities can take place on beaches – at high tide ships are driven up onto the sand. It takes between 5 weeks and 6 months to dismantle a tanker.
Year: 2005
From collection: Vital Waste Graphics
Cartographer: Philippe Rekacewicz, UNEP/GRID-Arendal