From scrapyard to backyard

In this exciting age of new megaliners equipped with amenities that boggle the mind, there is a sad, but unavoidable rite of passage: the demolition of the classic ships that can no longer compete in today's cruise marketplace. With rising fuel costs, the impending 2010 SOLAS (new international ship safety) regulations, and an unquenchable demand for scrap metal in developing nations, an armada of former ocean liners and cruise ships has recently departed, manned by skeleton crews and usually under a strange delivery name, to their doom.

In the Gujarat province on the northwestern shores of India's Gulf of Cambay, a devastated beach called Alang contains one of the world's most active shipbreaking yards. Alang has a huge tidal variation as well as a long, gently sloped embankment that makes it ideal for the job. In their final act, the ships are driven at full speed during high tide onto the shore.

After being stripped of all salvageable materials, large portions of the vessel are cut off and dropped onto the beach. These sections are dragged onshore and cut into hull-plate-sized strips (about six feet long by four feet wide) for recycling at nearby steel mills. An abundant and cheap work force comes from India's neighboring provinces to do the strenuous and often dangerous labor at a fraction of what it would cost in Western countries.

A main road ruins along Alang's waterfront. On the beach side, behind gates and a network of small buildings, the ships loom like broken monuments. On the inland side, a shantytown made from parts of demolished vessels serves as housing for the thousands of laborers. Despite the squalor, the workers seem grateful for the employment and the sense of purpose it gives them. The skill and ingenuity of these people is impressive. The shantytown lacks modern comforts, but the sanitary conditions and facilities have been steadily improving over the years.

by Peter Knego