Ship-Breaking and Pirates

I just finished reading William Langewiesche's book The Outlaw Sea.  Langewiesche writes regularly for The Atlantic Monthly.  The author provides some fascinating insight into the world of ships and shipping.  The first chapter discusses pirates on the ocean and the take over of a ship.  (For up-to-date reports on ocean piracy with lots and lots of maps, see EagleSpeak.)   Another chapter provides a detailed, heart-wrenching story of the sinking of a ferry boat traveling between Estonia and Norway.  The last chapter describes the controversial "ship-breaking" on the shores of Alang, India.  I had never really considered where ships went when they reached the end of their useful lives until I read this book.  This article in The Frontline, an Indian publication, describes the process and has some pictures.  More pictures are at BBC.   Ship-breaking is very controversial due to the hazards to the environment, and because the workers are low paid and perform tasks with little or no protection.  According to the BBC, Greenpeace has argued that British ships should be dismantled locally and not sent to India. Another article and photos at Ohmy News.   Perhaps most fascinating, however, is Peter Knego's documentation of the end of various passenger ocean liners on the Alang beach.