Bangladeshi shipbreaker the Kabir Group has responded to criticism of its safety record made by Brussels-based recycling lobby group NGO Shipbreaking Platform.
As earlier reported by TradeWinds, NGO Shipbreaking Platform said that the Kabir Group’s Chattogram-based recycling yards were responsible for six out of 18 accidents at the country’s yards this year. It highlighted two fatalities.
In response, the Kabir Group provided an analysis of its safety record at its two main shipbreaking yards between January 2020 and May 2022.
It said that one of its two main yards, Kabir Steel Limited, had worked a total of 374,400-man days during the period with two accidents. It said one fatality which occurred on 1 February 2022 was not work related, but included in its statistics.
It said the death of Ariful Islam Sujon this year, referenced by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, was due to illness and not injury. It said another death which had been cited was an injury.
Similarly, its other main yard Kahawja Shipbreaking had worked 417,400-man hours over the period and had six accidents. A fatal accident happening on 25 December 2020 was also included in the figures, although the yard said it was not work related.
In the figures, the Kabir Group pointed out there were 12 deaths in shipbreaking out of 1,053 work-related deaths in Bangladesh in 2021.
“We fully agree on the fact that the ship breaking job involves higher degree of risks, since the breaking job is top down where the possibility of losing safe standing floor remains, while in shipbuilding it is bottom up,” said Kabir Group executive Mohd Mehrul Karim.
He said the company carries out the necessary precautions and training but could not anticipate every eventuality. He gave the example of the earlier death of a worker at its Khawja Shipbreaking Yard in September 2021 through human error.
Mehrul Karim said Kabir Group is willing to enter into a dialogue with the NGO Shipbreaking Platform but, at the time of writing, it had not yet received a response to its petition against allegations made by the group.
“We are cordially requesting NGO Platform to spare some time and to have an online meeting or discussion session with us on the issues they may have at any time so that we can discuss the issues openly and share our views to improve the safety of the workers in ship recycling yards which will benefit the entire ship breaking industry in Bangladesh as a whole,” he said.
