A very fascinating and informative video that provides us a view of an important occupation and a really cool insight to the world of recycling. Are oil tankers their only source of ships? Do they cut up cruse ships too? Jerry P.S. More videos? Of course!!
Yes Jerry, they break every type of ocean going vessel - Except for submarines and aircraft carriers I guess (as they are never commercially auctioned at the end of their service life)... So at Gadani beach, you'll find cruise liners too, as well as container ships, bulk carrier supertankers (like the FRONT DRIVER), giant refrigerated ships (used in high end commercial deep sea fishing), ferries, even small tug boats, fishing trawlers, and also whaling ships - In fact, they at Gadani are also capable of breaking down floating drydocks, barges of any size or shape, and even oil rigs! All of this is because although Pakistan is very rich when it comes to gas deposits, coal, some oil too, and other minerals also - Like copper, chromium, bauxite, gold, and even uranium. But when it comes to iron ore, we don't have much of it... Which is why our Pakistani industry is always hungry for steel (be it from any source) - So that's how Gadani beach became would famous for ship breaking. As we started offering the highest price for used ships which were nearing the end of their service life. Well, I can only guess Carolyn. Let's see now - The beach at Gadani is divided in 100s of lots. Each lot is about about 20 to 30 acres in size, with a beach frontage on which at least 3 supertankers can be parked (with space for many other smaller vessels in between). So Gadani has 100s of such lots side by side on the beach. Now on each giant supertanker size ship, there must anywhere from 50 to a 100 men working on it. Majority of them would be welders who'll be doing the cutting. Please see this video of some other small ship getting cut up at Gadani beach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRJYgNc_TNc So by my rough estimate, Gadani would have a population of about 15,000 to 20,000 people. All of them between the age of 20 to 45, and 99% of them would be men (as hardly any women would be found outside the administrative departments, or the medical facilities at Gadani beach). So this really is a place for very rugged and able bodied men only. Where no slacker is tolerated for long... Majority of these men (about 80%) are welders. However the bulldozer, crane, and winch operators are the ones who get paid very generously. They probably consist of just 5% - So the rest 15% are unskilled workers (called helpers), who mostly assist the welders in their work.
Is this all one company if the beach is divided into 20-30 acre lots? Is each lot a ship or a company space? So many questions each time we see something new. Thanks S-H.
No, each lot is owned and operated by a different company (or individual). For example, lot number 99 (where I shot this video) - Belongs to Mr. Dewan Rizwan Farooqui, who had bought this FRONT DRIVER supertanker. And who also happens to be the chairman of the entire ship breaking industry of Pakistan. So this lot is owned by his own personal ship breaking company. In total there must be about 300+ such lots a gadani beach. Which is why when you are near the center - You see nothing but beached ships being broken up, (from horizon to horizon)!!!
