Steel Sanctums: The adaptive reuse of a derelict cargo ship

<p>This Master of Interior Architecture design research project proposes that a derelict cargo ship within one of the ship breaking yards of Chittagong, Bangladesh can be reused to accommodate the sites workers and act as a vehicle through which an interior intervention can be used to explore the significance and value of a derelict cargo ship. A design response that acknowledges the context of the site will allow for the exploration of the derelict cargo ship as a viable space for reuse and interior intervention. As relevant case studies suggest there is a contemporary trend to reuse abandoned and derelict spaces. The implementation of derelict cargo ships as a viable spaces could provide a new perspective on the contemporary tendency to adaptively reuse these types of structures. This speculative research project explores ways in which one such structure could be investigated for interior intervention. A derelict ship in the shipbreaking yards of Chittagong will become the shell in which a speculative, interior design solution will be explored. This will investigate the viability and significance of the adaptive reuse of cargo ships for the site’s context and the wider built environment. It will allow for a deeper understanding of the implications of inhabiting cargo ships.</p>

Steel Sanctums: The adaptive reuse of a derelict cargo ship

<p>This Master of Interior Architecture design research project proposes that a derelict cargo ship within one of the ship breaking yards of Chittagong, Bangladesh can be reused to accommodate the sites workers and act as a vehicle through which an interior intervention can be used to explore the significance and value of a derelict cargo ship. A design response that acknowledges the context of the site will allow for the exploration of the derelict cargo ship as a viable space for reuse and interior intervention. As relevant case studies suggest there is a contemporary trend to reuse abandoned and derelict spaces. The implementation of derelict cargo ships as a viable spaces could provide a new perspective on the contemporary tendency to adaptively reuse these types of structures. This speculative research project explores ways in which one such structure could be investigated for interior intervention. A derelict ship in the shipbreaking yards of Chittagong will become the shell in which a speculative, interior design solution will be explored. This will investigate the viability and significance of the adaptive reuse of cargo ships for the site’s context and the wider built environment. It will allow for a deeper understanding of the implications of inhabiting cargo ships.</p>

A Gap Analysis of Ship-Recycling Practices in Indonesia

Ship recycling is gaining attention in Indonesia due to the increase in end-of-life ships and uneconomical nationally flagged ships, and is considered a prospective source of economic development and employment opportunity, and yet conceivably poses a threat to the health and safety of workers and the environment. There are international and national regulations that govern ship-recycling activities to ensure that the hazardous impacts of the industry are minimized. We investigated the disparity between current ship-breaking practices in Indonesia and the requirements of related international and national regulations, with the findings intended for use as a stepping stone to proposing a strategy to establish a green and sustainable ship-recycling industry. A benchmark study of the world’s leading ship-recycling countries was conducted, and a gap analysis was performed by comparing existing international and national regulations with current ship-breaking practices in Indonesia. We identified two types of ship-breaking practices in Indonesia: Conventional environmentally unfriendly ship-breaking method, conducted by most Indonesian ship-breaking yards, and a rather modern, more environmentally friendly method, conducted by ship-repair yards. However, neither of the practices met the requirements of the regulations, and improvements are therefore needed to make the ship-recycling industry more green and sustainable, and to gain international recognition.

Coastal and Marine Pollution in Bangladesh: Pathways, Hotspots and Adaptation Strategies

Marine and coastal pollution is a global issue for human health and biodiversity. We have investigated pollution sources, flow patterns, hotspots, challenges, and adaptation policies in Bangladesh. Industries, ship breaking yards, sewage, tourism, and transboundary depositions are the main sources of pollutions. The Ganges, Padma, Jamuna, Brahmaputra and Meghna carry wastes to the Bay of Bengal. Pollution hotspots are Dhaka, Gazipur, Narshingdi, Narayanganj, Chittagong, Khulna, Mongla port and Sylhet city. Textile and dyeing industries discharge 12.7–13.5 million m3 waste waters annually and pollute 20% of fresh water. Ship breaking yards dump about 22.5 tons polychlorinated biphenyls in a year. More than 50% of the marine oil pollution comes from urban activities. Plastic wastes at 3000 t day-1 and tourism are also contributing to the coastal pollution. Effluent releasing standards are not maintained, and thus higher concentrations of heavy metals are found with marine fishes. Use of heavy metal tolerant crops (rice: BRRI dhan47, potato: Cardinal, mustard: Brassica napus, flower: Marigold, vegetables: Cucumber, fibre: Kenaf, and so on), trap cropping, deep placement of fertilizers, integrated rice-fish-duck culture, etc can be adopted in polluted areas. There are laws for environmental issues, but coordination and financial capabilities does not warrant its effectiveness. Necessary steps are to be taken to improve infrastructure to ensure sanitation and benign discharge of industrial effluents. Systematic study on sources, fate and extent of current effluents dumping in water ways need to be assessed for wellbeing of aquatic life and human health.

Livelihood Assessment and Occupational Health Hazard of the Ship-Breaking Industry Workers at Chattogram, Bangladesh

The ship-breaking industry has become a promising sector in Bangladesh by contributing to the country’s primary steel demand as raw material for re-rolling mills, providing livelihood opportunities for the poor. This paper investigates the livelihood index and health hazards of workers engaged in ship-breaking activities at the Bhatiari coast of Chattogram, Bangladesh. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected through participatory rural assessment (PRA) tools that included 128 individual interviews (II), ten focus group discussions (FGDs), and 15 key informant interviews (KIIs). The workers’ livelihoods revealed that workers lack basic facilities and are exposed to occupational health hazards due to working in a risky environment. Workers of different origins claimed to have 1 to 6 years of work experience and worked 11 to 12 h a day. More than 60% of workers reported being injured or suffering from various physical problems such as blurred vision, abdominal pain, and skin problems. Labor-intensive and unstable occupations, limited access to medical services, poor housing and sanitation, and lack of basic safety requirements increase workers’ plight. Therefore, the study offers advanced protective equipment, better medical facilities, and a safe workplace to improve the workers’ livelihoods.

Changing Pattern of Heavy Metals Accumulation in and around in Ship breaking Area Over the 40 years and Its Impact on Fish Diversity in Adjacent Areas of Bangladesh

Coastal area of Bangladesh is one of the significant ecologically productive areas and full of rich biodiversity that includes variety of species that are endemic to this region. The Shipbreaking activity has turned out to be more significant within the economic situation of the poverty-stricken Bangladesh. The study vicinity was alienated into the Shipbreaking zone and control site for proportional investigation. The study was administered to assess the changing pattern of the concentration of trace metals in soil Soil samples of the study areas and its impact on fish diversity of the ship breaking area in Bangladesh over the 40 years. From the finding of the study, it had been found that the concentration of the heavy metals found within the ship breaking area followed a pattern within the following fashion Fe>Pb>Cr>Mn>Zn>Ni>Cu>Cd>Hg. The finding of this heavy metal analysis of sediments demonstrated that there has been in an increment of two to eight times of selected heavy metals from the finding of 1980 to 2019. The study compared with the two relatively pristine or less impacted (undisturbed) areas, that served because of the reference zone. These studies also found that about 30 species of fishes became irregular or are threatened with extinction than they were 40 years ago.