Gadani Ship Breaking Yard

Gadani ship-breaking yard is the world's third largest ship breaking yard located across a 10 km (6.2 mi) long beachfront at Gadani, Pakistan. The yard consists of 132 ship-breaking plots.^[1] It is located about 40 km (25 mi) northwest of Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan.^[2]

In the 1980s, Gadani was the largest ship-breaking yard in the world, with more than 30,000 direct employees. However, competition from newer facilities in Alang, India and Chittagong, Bangladesh resulted in a significant reduction in output, with Gadani today producing less than one fifth of the scrap it produced in the 1980s. The recent reduction in taxes on scrap metal has led to a modest resurgence of output at Gadani, which now employs around 6,000 workers.

More than one million tons of steel is salvaged per year, and much of it is sold domestically.^[3] In the 2009-2010 fiscal year, a record 107 ships, with a combined light displacement tonnage (LDT) of 852,022 tons, were broken at Gadani, whereas in the previous 2008-2009 fiscal year, 86 ships, with a combined LDT of 778,598 tons, were turned into scrap.^[1]

It is the world's third-largest ship breaking yard after Alang Ship Breaking Yard (India) and Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard (Bangladesh), and followed by Aliağa Ship Breaking Yard (Turkey).^[4] Workers may earn as little as $12 a day, and are exposed to many dangers.^[3]