Live data from Hacker News

Shipbreaking

edwardburtynsky.com

31–40 of 202 posts

Re: Shipbreaking

#31
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is wild. Could not believe how many people were wearing sandals or completely barefoot.

Bare feet are the least of your problems when somebody drops a couple of tons of rusty steel on your head.

Yes, but that doesn't mean that using basic protective gear, like every heavy industry worker in developed countries, wouldn't reduce other kinds of injuries.

Re: Shipbreaking

#32

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%...

I'm not in a position to look right now, but I'm pretty sure there's video of this happening out on YouTube. It's pretty fearsome seeing these big vessels coming in under power and crashing into the shore. Tons of inertia.

Re: Shipbreaking

#33
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 wanted to love that game. I gave it a good go, but just could not bring myself to want to play it.

I think the story and narrative just put me right off of it from the very outset for some reason. I don't know why but it was a total turn-off.

Also the zero-G thing made sense from a setting-perspective, but the slowly-slowly-drifting-around with limited control was just frustrating and infuriating in equal measure. I am sure it is "realistic" but then this is a game about being in space tearing space ships apart so who cares about realism? If I was able to do things faster and with more "arcade" style movement then I am sure it would have been a blast, but slowly drifting about in treacle was not fun.

Re: Shipbreaking

#34

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%...

Thanks for that, some pretty cool street view panoramas at that location

Re: Shipbreaking

#35
These pics are 2000 (Chittagong, Bangladesh) posted around 2009 as you can see from the low rez. The photographer has a doco - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0832903/

As others are posting there are better videos / pics out.

Good book, not too long, easy read - "Ship Breaker" by "Paolo Bacigalupi" - https://booko.us/9780316056199/Ship-Breaker I think cyberpunk, Amazon says dystopian romance.

Re: Shipbreaking

#36
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...

Which, BTW, is a parable about labor rights and how debt is used to control workers.

Re: Shipbreaking

#37

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 perfo…

Well, West should stop dumping their garbage to the rest of the world.

It is easy to have strict environmental regulations, if they are not enforced, and negative externalities are exported.

Re: Shipbreaking

#39

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 perfo…

The trajectory of the last French air carriers - the Foch and the Clémenceau - is a good illustration of the mess it can be, even for former military flagships.

Those military ships are of course full of asbestos - more than usual - and heavy metals.

The Clémenceau was supposed to be dismantled in Spain, but when the marine nationale saw it being towed to Turkey, they cancelled the contract and got it back.

Then another consortium offered to dismantle it in Alang but with special precautions. The boat left, was blocked by NGOs, was blocked by Egypt when it tried to cross Suez, then India refused to accept it. It came back to France after rounding all of Africa.

It was eventually dismantled in the UK, after a few more protests (the river Tess had to be deepened, and the hull had to be cleaned up of any invasive organism)

https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9mant%C3%A8lement_du_p...

The Foch was sold to Brazil, and after much of the same drama, was eventually sunk in the Atlantic.

Re: Shipbreaking

#40
Paolo Bacigalupi’s novel “Ship Breaker” deserves a mention here. It’s set in Paolo’s dystopian solarpunk universe, where old tankers are cut up to extract the last tons of fossil fuels from their hold, and it really emphasises how dangerous and unrewarding of a job it is.
Post reply on HN