the encyclopedic entry of Alang

Alang

Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat, India. It is the leading centre of the worldwide ship breaking and recycling industry.

The shipyards at Alang recycle approximately half of all ships salvaged around the world. The yards are located on the Gulf of Khambat, 50 kilometres southeast of Bhavnagar. Visiting Westerners complain that before shipbreaking began there in June 1983 the beach at Alang was pristine and unspoiled. However, locals say that the work provides a reasonably paid job by local standards, with a steady income used to support their families.

Large supertankers, car ferries and container ships are beached during high tide, and as the tide recedes, hundreds of manual laborers dismantle each ship, salvaging what they can and reducing the rest into scrap. Tens of thousands of jobs are supported by this activity and millions of tons of steel are recovered.

The salvage yards at Alang have generated controversy about working conditions, workers' living conditions, and the impact on the environment. One major problem is that despite many serious work-related injuries, the nearest full service hospital is 50 kilometres away in Bhavnagar. Alang itself is served by a small Red Cross hospital that offers only limited services.

Clemenceau controversy

Main article: Clemenceau decommissioning controversy

Alang became the center of an international controversy when the Supreme Court of India temporarily prohibited the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau from entering the port in January 2006.

Demographics

As of the 2001 Indian census, Alang had a population of 18,464. Males constitute 82% of the population and females 18%. Alang has an average literacy rate of 62%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 89% of the males and 11% of females literate. 7% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Alang in popular culture

Shipbreakers, a documentary on the industry in Alang, was produced by Michael Kot in 2004.
On the Road to Alang, a documentary on passenger ships scrapped at Alang, was produced by Peter Knego in 2005.
The shipyard described in the Iain Banks novel The Business was possibly modelled on a shipyard at Alang.
Alang is the site of a mass panic and chaos in the Max Brooks novel World War Z.
The yard that breaks down crashed alien spacecraft in Warren Ellis' run on Astonishing X-Men is clearly based on Alang.