Alang yard sets new ship dismantling record

India – In the fiscal period of 2011-12, Asia’€™s largest shipbreaking yard – at Alang in India – recorded its highest-ever number of ships arriving for recycling, according to the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB).

A total of 415 ships were dismantled at the Alang facility, averaging 38.6 million tonnes of light ton displacement (LDT) against 28.2 million tonnes LDT in 2010-11. In an official statement, the GMB attributes these results partly to the ‘€˜key infrastructure’€™ for toxic storage and disposal facilities serving both hazardous and non-hazardous waste.

The board goes on to explain that despite the struggling global economy during 2011-12, the non-major ports in Gujarat saw traffic rise 12%, resulting in 259 million tonnes of shipbreaking volume versus 231 million tonnes in 2010-11. At the same time, traffic handling capacity increased roughly 14% from 284 million tonnes per annum to 323 million tonnes.

But the facility’€™s full potential has yet to be reached, believes GMB’€™s Vice Chairman and CEO Pankaj Kumar, revealing expectations that by 2015-16 the Gujarat ports will be able to handle over 500 million tonnes per year and quite possibly 1 billion tonnes by 2020.

For more information, visit: www.gmbports.org