Indian Government Sponsors Safety Training at Alang

India’s Ministry of Shipping has announced it will sponsor a new safety training program for ship recycling workers at Alang. 

As part of its Coastal Community Development Program, the Ministry of Shipping has sanctioned a first payment to the Gujarat Maritime Board for capacity building and safety training of 20,000 workers involved in ship recycling activities at the region’s largest yard.

The news comes a day after at least 16 workers were killed and 58 wounded in an explosion at the Gadani shipbreaking yard near Karachi, Pakistan. A fuel tank exploded inside of a tanker that was being scrapped on the beach at Gadani.

The Indian Ministry of Shipping states that due to the accident prone nature of ship breaking, the Gujarat Maritime Board has been running an indigenous Safety Training and Labour Welfare Institute at Alang for the last 12 years. However, with the increased volume of ship recycling over last decade, and to bring the training standards at par with the international regulations, it has become necessary to upgrade the existing training standards. As a result, a new training module has been proposed for occupational health and safety. 

Around 350 ships are recycled each year in India.