Chittagong Ship Breaking yard, Ship breaking yard in Faujdarhat, Sitakunda Upazila, Bangladesh

The Chittagong ship breaking facility is a sprawling industrial complex spread along the coastline where hundreds of work sites dismantle vessels into salvageable materials. The yards use sandy beaches as working surfaces, where teams with cutting torches and hand tools systematically remove metal sections and other components.

The facility began in the 1960s when a stranded vessel was dismantled by local workers, establishing what would become a major industry. Over decades, this initial effort grew into one of the region's largest sources of raw materials and employment.

The industry began in 1965 when Chittagong Steel House bought the stranded Greek ship M D Alpine and had it scrapped. Commercial breaking followed in 1974 when Karnafully Metal Works Ltd bought the damaged Pakistani ship Al Abbas. Today much of what comes off the vessels — doors, kitchen fittings, beds — is sold in and around Chittagong.

The yards lie along the Sitakunda coastal strip at Faujdarhat, about 20 km north-west of Chittagong. Outsiders are no longer welcome because of the poor safety record, so the site is not open to tourists; the industry was once a visitor attraction. Viewing is limited to what can be seen from outside the working beach.

The yard processes a substantial share of global ship recycling and supplies the nation's economy with recovered steel for construction and manufacturing projects. This concentrated industrial activity on a beach transforms old vessels directly into materials for new buildings and infrastructure.