Platform News – ‘With Bare Hands’: an immersive journey into the problems of shipbreaking
International media outlets publish 'With bare hands', the first multimedia and data-driven reporting project that documents the negative impacts on the environment and the human costs of shipbreaking in South Asia. Spanish daily newspaper El Pais and international news channel Al Jazeera are the first to make this reporting available.
Isacco Chiaf, graphic designer, and Tomaso Clavarino, journalist and photographer, are behind this outstanding project, which was funded by the European Journalism Centre. The two Italians travelled to Bangladesh and India, where dirty and dangerous scrapping is conducted on the tidal beaches of Chittagong and Alang. With texts, infographics, videos, photo-essays, interviews and maps, they have been able to show how shipbreaking activities are contributing to the destruction of the ecosystem and negatively affecting the lives of thousands of people.
The multimedia platform highlights the issues of child labour, environmental pollution and lack of healthy and safe working and living conditions. Maps and graphs, based on the NGO Shipbreaking Platform’s data, focus on the practices of the shipping industry such as the use of flags of convenience and cases of illegal trafficking. Interviews with Patrizia Heidegger, the Platform’s executive director, and Muhammed Ali (Shahin), the Platform’s coordinator in Bangladesh, are also featured.
Related news
Press Release – Massive Oil Spill at India’s “Best Shipbreaking Yard” Raises Serious Concerns Over Hong Kong Convention Certification. NGOs call for a global ban on beaching
A massive oil spill at Priya Blue’s shipbreaking yard plot V1/V2 in Alang-Sosiya, Gujarat, India, raises serious concerns over safety and environmental standards at one of the… Read More
Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #33
Six workers suffered an accident on South Asian beaches in the first quarter of 2023.
... Read More
Press Release – NGO publishes 2015 list of all ships dismantled worldwide
Read our country-specific press releases: Belgium and France | Brazil and Portugal | Germany | Greece | Italy | Japan | Spain Read what the North… Read More
Press Release – Sale of asbestos-laden aircraft carrier São Paulo raises concerns
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform, Basel Action Network (BAN), BAN Asbestos France, International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS), İstanbul Isig Meclisi and Brazilian ABREA have alerted the Turkish Ministry… Read More
Platform publishes South Asia Quarterly Update #44
Three workers suffered an accident on South Asian beaches in the fourth quarter of 2025.
... Read More
Platform News – Maersk maintains beaching mantra and chooses to ignore facts revealed by Danwatch
After investigative journalists have revealed the severe short-comings of Maersk’s shipbreaking practices in Alang, India, the shipping giant blatantly disregards the findings. In an official statement, Maersk… Read More
