Live data from Hacker News

Shipbreaking

edwardburtynsky.com

21–30 of 202 posts

Re: Shipbreaking

#21
post #7

If anyone is interested in a game themed shipbreaking/dismantling things, check out Hardspace: Shipbreaker. Instead of oceanic ships one gets to take apart spaceships and sort the salvages like garbage-recycle-compost. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1161580/Hardspace_Shipbre...

I really like the gameplay of it, but the story actively makes it a worse product, somehow.

What is it about the story that puts you off? I might agree it’s not a masterpiece of interactive storytelling, but given the subject matter I’m hard press to find a different kind of story you could tell with it.

Re: Shipbreaking

#22
post #4

These are probably taken at the Alang (India) and Chittagong (Bangladesh) Ship Breaking Yards, where they run the ships aground at high tide. Both visible on Google Maps satelite view: https://www.google.com/maps/place/21%C2%B023'21.9%22N+72%C2%... https://www.google.com/maps/place/22%C2%B027'24.5%22N+91%C2%...

>where they run the ships aground at high tide. Probably a dumb question but what do they do on the next high tide? Wouldn't it interfere with their work?

They start with superstructures etc, making the ships lighter. Then they pull them further up the coast as needed.

Re: Shipbreaking

#23

Shipbreaking is an absurdly dangerous job, and the "Brothers" sequence in Workingman's Death covers this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workingman%27s_Death

I have not keeping track of this anymore, but, from the last time I read on this:

A LOT of people go disabled, amputee from freak accidents, on a regular basis, and receive NO support from the owners, and life expectancy go really, really low.

The whole business is controlled by a group of people, who have no ethical sense, and environmental concern, and these people are so powerful, no one can do anything to them.

There's no pollution control here, so all the harmful chemicals go into the sea, and land, which basically have made the whole seaside area unusable for crops, which mean, people who were farmers can't farm anymore, and have to work in these yards. And die pretty fast. And obviously, as the chemicals are getting mixed in the land, it is affecting the people too. But again these people are so powerful, no one can say anything about it.

Re: Shipbreaking

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really like the gameplay of it, but the story actively makes it a worse product, somehow.

What is it about the story that puts you off? I might agree it’s not a masterpiece of interactive storytelling, but given the subject matter I’m hard press to find a different kind of story you could tell with it.

How forced and in your face it is, only to then remove the "working yourself out of debt" part at the end and just destroying most of the reason to keep playing, at least for me. And everything being unskippable while you are stuck inside the small room unable to do anything but listen to it.

Re: Shipbreaking

#25

I lived near Alang (India) and visited the shipbreaking operations a lot. For me as a kid, the best part was these ships had olives (in brine) and we could only get them from Alang. Happy to answer any questions you guys might have.

Do you mean there was food still on board when the ships arrived?

Re: Shipbreaking

#26

I lived near Alang (India) and visited the shipbreaking operations a lot. For me as a kid, the best part was these ships had olives (in brine) and we could only get them from Alang. Happy to answer any questions you guys might have.

- I've heard these breaking yards are very toxic. Do you have any memory of this?

- olives in brine? Like leftover food supplies and somehow that was a staple?

- What was the visit like? Stand on a platform and watch? Guided tour? Freedom to run amok & don't get in the way/yourself killed?

- What were the local opinions on the industry?

Re: Shipbreaking

#28

Shipbreaking is an absurdly dangerous job, and the "Brothers" sequence in Workingman's Death covers this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workingman%27s_Death

Is it an inherently dangerous job or is it dangerous because of how it is managed?

Re: Shipbreaking

#29
One of my previous (job) tasks was to monitor larger vessels, and analyze where they'd end up getting torn apart.

Turns out western shipping companies don't like paying western prices for that kind of work, and try to sneak the vessels down to India, Bangladesh, etc. where that kind of work is much cheaper. But with cheaper prices comes a host of issues, from the environmental effects, to human workers actually performing the dangerous work.

Sometimes these things can fail spectacularly - like when they try to sail or tow the vessel, end up drifting to land, and create huge oil spills.

Re: Shipbreaking

#30
post #28

Shipbreaking is an absurdly dangerous job, and the "Brothers" sequence in Workingman's Death covers this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workingman%27s_Death

Is it an inherently dangerous job or is it dangerous because of how it is managed?

Both. With western automation, rules and PPE it would be no worse than building the things in the first place
Post reply on HN