Regulating Shipbreaking as a Global Activity: Issues of Fragmentation and Injustice

Abstract

Shipbreaking, the process of dismantling ships at the end of their operational life, is inherently a complex global activity, as ships are routinely sent to developing countries, primarily in South Asia, and scrapped under unsafe conditions. This process is subject to multiple, overlapping regimes at the international, regional and national levels, comprising a significantly fragmented regulatory framework. Karim’s book critically analyses this framework from the perspective of environmental justice, providing useful insights from Bangladesh, a developing country heavily involved in ship dismantling. This review article analyses the normative contribution of Karim’s book by further demonstrating the complexities of shipbreaking from the perspective of key environmental principles. It also analyses its doctrinal and empirical contribution by unfolding the fragmented and failing regulatory regime of shipbreaking, implemented at different levels of governance. The review article further links Karim’s normative assessment of environmental justice with the doctrinal analysis of the relevant regulatory regimes.