India now enjoys the dubious distinction of having emerged as the largest centre of ship-breaking in the world with 415 ships having been broken in the ship-breaking yards of Alang in 2011-12, Daily Shipping Times reports.
Another 150 giant behemoths, used to ferry millions of tons of goods across the globe but no longer seaworthy, are waiting there to be broken down. From 1983 to 2012, statistics collected by Toxics Watch Alliance show that 532 “toxic” ships have been broken down along the Gujarat coastline. Pakistan has emerged as the number two ship-breaking country followed by Bangladesh and China, but in the latter country ships are broken in dry docks and not along the coast.