Pakistan Ship Breaking Industry

Ship-breaking activities in Pakistan were initiated in 1973, with Pakistan being one of the pioneer ship recycling destinations, along with Taiwan in the region, to be later followed by India and Bangladesh.

Recyclers from both these countries visited Pakistan to apprentice, acquiring the entire procedural details involved in ship demolition.

Pakistan consumes around 6.5 million tons of reusable steel each year, out of which imported ships comprised of almost 1.6 million tons in 2018. Contributing nearly 18-20 percent to the national steel consumption.

Over the years, the ship-breaking industry had brought in enormous revenue for the government and traders.

However, Pakistan Ship demolishing sector faced several economic challenges in 2019 including low demand for ship plates and scrap domestically.

Moreover, recent environmental changes have had a serious impact on the ship demolishing industry amid sectors switching to eco-friendly alternatives.

The Government of Pakistan needs to implement appropriate measures in order to resolve the problems of the steel sector and shipbreaking in particular, by initiating more infrastructure projects in order to boost demand in the steel industry for scrap obtained from finished products.

The government’s maritime ministry’s recent initiative to implement measures given by Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships has been welcomed across the board.

The IMO’s HK Convention is a platform which addresses concerns raised about the working and environmental conditions at majority of the ship recycling yards.

Shipbreaker in Pakistan have already started working with foreign consultants on the implementations on these conventions at their yards as ship breakers want to update yard facilities according to global standards, 11 yards have been upgraded till date.