EUROPEAN shipping companies are sending their end-of-life ships for scrap in dangerous and polluting yards in Bangladesh, according to a damning new report released on Wednesday.

The scathing 90-page report, called Trading Lives for Profit, Human Rights Watch and the Shipbreaking Platform, said that Bangladeshi ship-breaking yards often take shortcuts on safety measures, dump toxic waste directly onto the beach and the surrounding environment.

It also says that they deny workers living wages, rest or compensation in case of injuries. 

The report outlines how ship owners have created a network to by-pass international regulations that prohibit the export of ships to facilities like those in Bangladesh that have weak environmental and workers’ protections.

Julia Bleckner, a senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “Companies scrapping ships in Bangladesh’s dangerous and polluting yards are making a profit at the expense of Bangladeshi lives and the environment.

“Shipping companies should stop using loopholes in international regulations and take responsibility for safely and responsibly managing their waste.”

The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, which comes into force in 2025, should be strengthened to ensure a safe and sustainable ship recycling industry, the groups said. 

Countries should adhere to existing international labour and environmental laws that regulate the disposal of ships, including the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.

Since 2020, approximately 20,000 Bangladeshi workers have ripped apart more than 520 ships, far more tonnage than in any other country.

The International Labour Organisation has previously described ship breaking as one of the world’s most dangerous jobs and workers have long complained about not being provided with adequate protective equipment, training or tools to safely do their jobs. 

“We are not safe in the shipyard while working,” said Kamrul, who has worked in ship breaking since he was 12. 

“Nails hit us, or flames hit us. Most of the workers at some point get burned. I never feel safe.”

Ahmed, another ship-breaking worker, said: “We cut the ship while hanging off the side using a rope ladder. Workers sometimes slip and fall into the water.”

Hasan said he left the job in April 2021 after he fell from the second floor of a ship: “I did not have a safety harness, so I fell about 4.5 metres to the ground floor.”

Workers have also often described using their socks as gloves to avoid burning their hands as they cut through molten steel.