Shipbreaking is the dismantling of decommisioned oceangoing vessels in order to salvage the materials for reuse and recycling. Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's remarkable series 'Shipbreaking' artfully documents the entire working process, from the arrival of the obsolete ships on Chittagong's beaches and the removal of all gear and equipment to the physical breaking down of the ship's structure and the reconstitution of the steel into rebar. A challenging activity under the best of circumstances, ship-breaking is conductedon the beaches of Bangladesh without the use of a pier, dry-dock or slip. During the monthly high tide and in contridiction to all seafaring principles, the ships are taken 50 kilometers (31 miles) offshore where they are driven directly towards land at full speed. After the ships are thus lodged on the effluvial flats of the Ganges River, the receding tides gives the workers ready access to them.

Scott McLeod
From the FotoFest 2004 Catalogue