Alang

Alang
—  city  —
Alang Location of Alang in Gujarat and India
Coordinates	21°24′43″N 72°12′10″E / 21.412082°N 72.202749°E / 21.412082; 72.202749Coordinates: 21°24′43″N 72°12′10″E / 21.412082°N 72.202749°E / 21.412082; 72.202749
Country	India
State	Gujarat
District(s)	Bhavnagar
Population	18,464 (2001[update])
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)

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Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. In the past three decades, its beaches have become a major worldwide centre for ship breaking.

Marine salvage industry

The shipyards at Alang recycle approximately half of all ships salvaged around the world.^{[citation needed]} The yards are located on the Gulf of Khambat, 50 kilometres southeast of Bhavnagar. Environmentalists note that before shipbreaking began there in June 1983 the beach at Alang was pristine and unspoiled.^{[citation needed]} However, locals say that the work provides a reasonably paid job by local standards, with a steady income used to support their families.^{[citation needed]}

Large supertankers, car ferries, container ships, and a dwindling number of ocean liners are beached during high tide, and as the tide recedes, hundreds of manual laborers dismantle each ship, salvaging what they can and reducing the rest into scrap. Tens of thousands of jobs are supported by this activity and millions of tons of steel are recovered.^{[citation needed]}

The salvage yards at Alang have generated controversy about working conditions, workers' living conditions, and the impact on the environment. One major problem is that despite many serious work-related injuries, the nearest full service hospital is 50 kilometres away in Bhavnagar. Alang itself is served by a small Red Cross hospital that offers only limited services.^{[citation needed]}

Clemenceau controversy

Alang became the center of an international controversy when the Supreme Court of India temporarily prohibited the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau from entering the port in January 2006.^[1]

Future

Japan and the Gujarat government have joined hands to upgrade the existing Alang shipyard. The two parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which focuses on technology transfer and financial assistance from Japan to assist in the upgrading of operations at Alang to meet international standards. This is a part of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, a larger partnership between the Japanese and Gujarati governments. Under this plan, Japan will address the environmental implications of ship breaking in Alang, as well as devising a marketing strategy. The project is to be carried out as a public-private partnership. The project's aim is to make this shipyard the largest International Maritime Organization-compliant ship recycling yard in the world.

Demographics

As of the 2001 Indian census,^[2] Alang had a population of 18,464. Males constitute 82% of the population and females 18%. Alang has an average literacy rate of 62%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 89% of the males and 11% of females literate. 7% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Alang in popular culture

• Shipbreakers, a documentary on the industry in Alang, was produced by Michael Kot in 2004.
• On the Road to Alang,^[3] a documentary on passenger ships scrapped at Alang, was produced by Peter Knego^[4] in 2005.
• The shipyard described in the Iain Banks novel The Business was possibly modelled on a shipyard at Alang.^{[citation needed]}
• In the Max Brooks satirical zombie apocalypse novel World War Z, Alang is described by one of the survivors as a place of incredible confusion and panic. People attempted to board ships that were being broken in order to escape from the threat of the zombies, but did not take into consideration the state of the ships they were fleeing to, resulting in deaths by the thousands.
• Its workers are featured in the film, Surplus: Terrorized into Being Consumers

See also

• List of Indian companies
• Ship-Submarine recycling program
• Gadani ship-breaking yard

References

External links

• Lengthy article from The Atlantic about Alang shipbreaking
• Ship Breakers from Alang India
• Ship Machinery and Spares by Ocean Power (India - Alang)
• Information on Alang from the Gujarat Maritime Board
• Article about Alang and ship-breaking in general by Greenpeace
• Green Peace: Shipbreaking
• BBC: Asbestos test for 'graveyard of ships'
• BBC: 'Toxic ship' docks in Indian port
• Alang Ship Recycling Street, video 6:18 min, Marco Casagrande & Nikita Wu, 2006
• Ship spares from Ships beached in Alang for recycling :ABHI EXPORTS