ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF SHIPBREAKING IN PAKISTAN AND ITS ADHERENCE TO ILO AND HGC GUIDELINES

Abstract

South Asia is currently the largest center of shipbreaking throughout the world, which focuses on the intertidal beaching method because of cost efficiency and weak regulatory oversight. Pakistan's Gadani yard - whose yard, once one of the largest in the world - is an example of the juggling that takes place between international maritime law, environmental governance, and labor rights. This study seeks to present a compliance gap analysis of the ship recycling practices of Pakistan as compared to Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (HKC), Basel Convention, UNCLOS Part XII and ILO Labor Standards. Using doctrinal legal review, systematic analysis of literature, and secondary quantitative analysis of data, the study evaluates the ecological and occupational impacts. Findings show significant environmental degradation, such as cadmium in soil 12mg/kg, total petroleum hydrocarbons 3500 μg/L, or mercury and methylmercury in sediments, and elevated atmospheric PAHs and PCBs. Labor violations are still widespread, however, with sub-living wages, high fatality rates, and informal contracting. While accessions of Pakistan's HKC in 2023 and the inaugurating of the first compliant yard in 2026 are steps ahead, gaps in progress remain owing to the prevalence of low levels of mechanization, unregulated practices of labor-based operations and incomplete infrastructure of downstream of hazardous waste management. The study concludes that in the absence of a robust domestic regulatory and enforcement, Pakistan's stance in global standards will be more in name than reality leaving human and environmental weak links unattended.