What is the value of the life of a worker at a ship recycling facility in Bangladesh?
BDT 700,000 ($5,856), according to penalties that SN Corporation has been ordered to pay the families of the six workers killed in an explosion on a tanker being cut up at its yard in Chattogram in early September.
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Industries ordered the ship recycler, one of Bangladesh’s largest, to pay compensation in the form of 12 months of salary and all medical costs to six other workers who were seriously injured in the blast on the former Shipping Corporation of India MR1-type 33,000-dwt product tanker Swarajya (ex-Suvarna Swarajya, built 1998).
A report produced by a committee that was established to investigate the explosion blamed it on safety violations, operational misconduct and a failure to ensure safe working conditions.
As a result, SN Corporation was fined an additional BTD 2.6m.
The burnt-out remains of the Swarajya look set to haunt Chattogram’s waterfront for some time.
SN Corporation has been ordered to halt all operations at its ship recycling facilities for three months.
The ministry released a 20-point list of suggestions to prevent similar incidents in future. Among them were critical safety measures such as forbidding the simultaneous operation of hot and cold work, ensuring sufficient ventilation while cutting tanks in engine rooms and pump rooms, and making sure these areas are gas-free before issuing hot-work permits.
The recycler was also instructed to ensure that proper firefighting and rescue arrangements were in place when working on high-risk areas of ships.
The ministry also urged SN Corporation to recruit trained, experienced workers and ensure that they strictly follow the ship-cutting plan.
