Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially steel, to be reused. Equipment on board the vessel can also be reused.

The world's largest cruise ship in 2010 was the Allure of the Sea, built in Finland. The ship was made of about 54,285 tons of steel.

In China, the 'eleventh five-year' period, ship-breaking will save 7,250,000 tons of ore, at least 18,450,000 tons of iron ore, 2,520,000 tons of coal, 11,840,000 tons of water , 1,180,00 tons of limestone, nearly 81,000,000 tons of capacity, 7,690,000 tons of greenhouse gases, 210,116,050 kwh of energy, 14,088,080 gallons of gasoline, 704,404/5 tons of co2, a 12,606,963/20 cubic meter lake, enough energy to power one car to travel 307,604,392 miles, $25,213,926.00.

recycling one cruise ship the size of the Allure of the Sea could save 271,425/4 tons of iron ore, 54,285/2 tons of coal, 10,857/10 tons of limestone, a 25,242,525/2 cubic meter lake (21,714 of water), enough energy to light a 60 watt light bulb for 70,570,500/219 years, a CFL for 10,570,705/5,714 years, 34,850,970 KWh of energy (401,709/10 Of energy), 4,125,660 Gallons of oil, 3,094,245/2 tons of green house gases, 591,706,500,000 Btu's of energy (401,709/10 of energy), 217,140 cubic yards of landfill space, reduce air pollution by 466,851/10, water pollution by 206,283/5, enough oil to run the average car for 61,884,900 miles or circle the globe almost 4,620,739,200 times, a 123,769,800,000 cubic meter lake from being polluted, a 44,191,006/5,043 cubic meter tank of gasoline, 3,485,097/800,000 tons of mercury a year, 293,139 tons of waste, 995,742 metric tons of toxic lead, 16,502,640 acres of soil from being polluted, $4,182,116.40 in energy, $504,850,500.00 in water, $3,550,239.00 in btu energy (this totals to $509,387,855.40)

RisksEdit

In addition to steel and other useful materials, however, ships (particularly older vessels) can contain many substances that are banned or considered dangerous in developed countries. Asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are typical examples. Asbestos was used heavily in ship construction until it was finally banned in most of the developed world in the mid 1980s. Currently, the costs associated with removing asbestos, along with the potentially expensive insurance and health risks, have meant that ship-breaking in most developed countries is no longer economically viable. Removing the metal for scrap can potentially cost more than the value of the scrap metal itself. In the developing world, however, shipyards can operate without the risk of personal injury lawsuits or workers' health claims, meaning many of these shipyards may operate with high health risks. Protective equipment is sometimes absent or inadequate. Dangerous vapors and fumes from burning materials can be inhaled, and dusty asbestos-laden areas are commonplace.

Ship-breaking has been practiced along the Bangladesh coast for a long time, contaminating the coastal soil and sea water environment and thus changing their ecological settings. Wastes of the scrapped ships are drained and dumped into the Bay of Bengal. These wastes, especially oil and oil substances, and different types of heavy metals, are being accumulated into the marine biota. As a result, marine diversity of Bangladesh that supports highly diversified fishes, mollusks, and benthic organism etc., is at stake at this moment. Indiscriminate expansion of ship breaking activities poses a potential threat to the coastal intertidal zone and its habitat. The coast of the ship breaking area is inhabited by 20,000 poor fishing families who are dependent for their survival on the availability of the fish in the shallow coastal area. The abundance and distribution patterns of benthic fauna in affected and non-affected areas show clear difference in abundance and species diversity, with dominancy of pollution indicator in ship-breaking activity area.

Aside from the health of the yard workers, in recent years, ship breaking has also become an issue of major environmental concern. Many ship breaking yards in developing nations have lax or no environmental law, enabling large quantities of highly toxic materials to escape into the environment and causing serious health problems among ship breakers, the local population, and wildlife. Environmental campaign groups, such as Greenpeace, have made the issue a high priority for their activities.