Alang

Alang
City
Alang
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	Bhavnagar
Population (2001)
• Total	18,464
Languages
• Official	Gujarati, Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	364081

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. The longest ship ever built, "Knock Nevis", was sailed to and beached here for demolition in December 2009. ^[1]

Marine salvage industry

The shipyards at Alang recycle approximately half of all ships salvaged around the world.^[2] It is considered the world's largest graveyard of ships.^[3] The yards are located on the Gulf of Khambat, 50 kilometres southeast of Bhavnagar. 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 to scrap. 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.

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.^[4] Attempts to reach a settlement were unsuccessful, and Clemenceau was sent to a shipbreaking harbor in England instead.

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 Gujarat government. Under this plan, Japan will address the environmental implications of ship breaking in Alang, and will develop 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,^[5] 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, Age of Iron (short film) - documentaries on the industry in Alang, was produced by Michael Kot in 2004.
• On the Road to Alang,^[6] a documentary on passenger ships scrapped at Alang, was produced by Peter Knego^[7] in 2005.
• The shipyard described in the Iain Banks novel The Business was possibly modelled on a shipyard at Alang.
• In the Max Brooks 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
• In William Langewiesche's book "outlaw sea" he deals with ship breaking in Alang in the book's final chapter, "on the beach".
• The fictional ship breaking town in the 'Third World of the Antares system' from futurama is partially based on Alang

Mithi Virdi Nuclear Power Plant

Mithi Virdi (or Viradi) NPP is a proposed 6600 MW nuclear plant about 3 kilometres (2 mi) north of the ship breaking beach.^[8]

The proposed nuclear plant has faced heavy opposition from the local population. The area around the proposed plant is known for growing some of the highest quality Kesar Mango trees

See also

• List of Indian companies
• Ship-Submarine recycling program

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alang.

• Lengthy article from The Atlantic about Alang shipbreaking
• "Steelyards at Alang" Photo Essay from Architexturez about Alang in 1980s
• Information on Alang from the Gujarat Maritime Board
• Article about Alang and ship-breaking in general by Greenpeace
• 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