"DHAKA - The coronavirus pandemic has slowed efforts to make safer the often hazardous job of dismantling old ships in Bangladesh, officials said, following the latest worker fatality.

COVID-19 temporarily shuttered ship-breaking yards in Bangladesh, one of the world's main destinations for end-of-life vessels, delaying safety reforms ahead of a 2023 deadline.

Almost all of the 70 active yards in Bangladesh have submitted Ship Recycling Facility Plans since 2019, according to the Ministry of Industries - a key reform as Bangladesh readies to join a global treaty to make the industry safer.

But only one yard has implemented its plan, which details how ship recycling facilities will be run in a safe and environmentally-friendly way."

Naimul Karim reports for Thomson Reuters Foundation December 8, 2020. [2]