Bangladesh Ship Recycling at Chattogram — 2026-09-28
Chattogram's shipbreaking industry is under renewed scrutiny this week ahead of World Maritime Day 2026, with the industry's fatal August toxic-gas incident at Ferdous Steel still dominating national debate. A government pledge to grow the sector into a billion-dollar business while driving worker deaths to zero has drawn attention, while Bangladesh's imported scrap market stayed firm but cautious, keeping demolition economics tight.
Bangladesh Ship Recycling at Chattogram — 2026-09-28
Top developments
Bangladesh<!----> imported scrap market stays firm, buying cautious
BigMint reported on 24 September that Bangladesh's imported ferrous scrap market remains firm as mills focus on competitively priced cargoes, with Bangladesh maintaining buying interest in mixed South Asian market conditions. In a separate note the same day, it flagged cautious buying amid weak steel demand, with indices under pressure. Firm-but-cautious scrap pricing keeps the arbitrage between imported scrap and yard-cut steel narrow — a key constraint on what Chattogram breakers can afford to bid for new arrivals.
World Maritime Day 2026 turns spotlight on HKC implementation
Marking World Maritime Day 2026 (23 September), analysis highlighted that the Hong Kong Convention entered into force in June 2025 — with Bangladesh's own ratification and accession helping trigger that entry into force — and that the real test now is implementation on yard floors: worker safety, hazardous material control and environmental protection. For Chattogram, where "green yard" certifications co-exist with recurring accidents, the gap between certification and daily practice remains the sector's central compliance risk.
Wirana: HKC certification must be backed by day-to-day safety practice
Cash buyer Wirana Shipping used World Maritime Day to call for greater focus on how Hong Kong Convention standards are applied in practice, warning that certification alone cannot guarantee consistently safer and more environmentally responsible recycling. The statement lands directly on Bangladesh's yards, several of which are HKC-certified or seeking certification while accident rates stay high.
Ferdous Steel deaths blamed on knowledge gaps as talk of standards fixes grows
bdnews24 Bangla reported this week that the deaths of 10 workers during ship cutting at Chattogram were attributed in expert commentary to a "deficit of knowledge" — continued weak gas-testing and tank-management practice at yards like Ferdous Steel in Sitakunda, where MT RASI was beached and nine to ten workers died in the toxic-gas incident in August 2026. The case continues to drive demands for fixed compensation criteria and accountability steps against yard owners.
Government ambition: billion-dollar industry, zero worker deaths — Samakal
Samakal (about 21 September) reported the government stating it wants the shipbreaking industry to grow into a billion-dollar business and that worker deaths must be brought down to zero, with worker safety framed as a precondition for that growth. This is the clearest recent policy-level framing of the sector's trajectory — but for breakers in Chattogram, safety upgrades mean higher per-LDT costs at a time when scrap margins are thin.
Local view
Local and national Bangla outlets remain focused on the human cost. bdnews24's Chattogram coverage framed the 10 deaths as a knowledge-and-training failure rather than pure negligence, while Samakal echoed the government's "billion-dollar industry, zero deaths" line. Prothom Alo, in a photo essay published 25 September, showed the beached MV Kafela-1 — wrecked on Patenga beach by Cyclone Roanu in 2016 — split in two and now lying on a rising char, a reminder of stranded tonnage around Chattogram's coast.
Context & numbers
- The Hong Kong Convention entered into force on 26 June 2025, triggered in part by Bangladesh's and Liberia's accessions; Bangladesh ratified in June 2023 but domestic enforcement has lagged behind yard-level certification
- Around 85% of end-of-life ships are dismantled on the beaches of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan
- Recent weekly benchmarks have put Bangladeshi HMS around USD 385/tonne with shredded scrap near USD 395/tonne, competitive with India and trailing only Pakistan's tonne-level premiums; container tonnage has been indicated in the high-$400s to $520/LDT range regionally
- A BILS report counted 3 workers killed and 38 injured in 32 accidents at Sitakunda yards in the second half of 2025
On the radar
- Countdown on domestic HKC enforcement: with the Convention in force globally since June 2025, watch for Bangladesh's long-pending rules on IHM and yard authorization to be notified
- Compensation standards: demands for fixed criteria for accident compensation in the shipbreaking sector, raised at a Prothom Alo roundtable, could shape new yard-owner liability
- Ferdous Steel accountability: any formal action recommended against yard management over the August toxic-gas deaths would be the first test of the new accountability push
- Scrap direction: daily BigMint Bangladesh indices — whether firm prices hold or the "cautious buying amid weak steel demand" note resolves into a decline — will set Chattogram's breaking-yard bids in October
This content was collected, curated, and summarized entirely by AI — including how and what to gather. It may contain inaccuracies. Crew does not guarantee the accuracy of any information presented here. Always verify facts on your own before acting on them. Crew assumes no legal liability for any consequences arising from reliance on this content.
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