[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I will have to look for it. I have seen a very interesting documentary about this, but I can’t seem to find any of it on YouTube.

I will keep looking
Jeroen

Jeroen, Thank you. Much appreciated. I would not be surprised if the cost of breaking up a ship with the aid of modern machines after addressing the safety requirements of removing fluids is roughly the same as doing it by manual labour and zero safety norms. I wonder. By putting 500 under equipped labourers on a ship I don't think we can do it faster than with machines. Speed always translates to productivity. Just my thoughts as I compare this with the aircraft parting & re-cycling industry.

All,

In aircraft parting and re-cycling {we don't call it scrapping! Avian have standards you see} the big OEMs have over the years, especially since 1980s developed a whole eco-system of end parts and re-cycled materials and standards associated with each. These standards are not only on completeness, testing and {in case of metals} purity but also the process to be followed while parting , storing, smelting and certifying. So if you want your parts and materials to fetch you an international price you got to follow the standards. So, it does not matter very much, in cost terms, whether you do it in USA or India. Infact, USA has 50% of the parting industry and Europe about 35%. And low cost countries, 15%! Now an industry wide re-cycled parts and raw materials software has come up based on block chain technology that tracks a part from birth to death to recycling to re-birth in a {I presume} tamper proof way. Airbus led the way here.

Almost a decade ago I evaluated this trade with the intention of establishing it for large airliners and the evaluation's answer was to do it in France under my unit there. France not India. Cost of parking dozens of large aircraft, eco-system of testing & certifying and access to a very large market {Airbus} far outweighed any benefit of lower labour costs.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

I would not be surprised if the cost of breaking up a ship with the aid of modern machines after addressing the safety requirements of removing fluids is roughly the same as doing it by manual labour and zero safety norms. I wonder. By putting 500 under equipped labourers on a ship I don't think we can do it faster than with machines. Speed always translates to productivity. Just my thoughts as I compare this with the aircraft parting & re-cycling industry.

Yes, that might be true. Even so, it is not only the cost of labour in terms of salary. Labour cost is just one part of the equation. It is also about how many hours you can “get” out of one person, how much you pay for his/her training, safety equipement. And of course safely and environmental friendly disposing of chemical and hazardous liquids or other materials (e.g. asbestos) comes with a considerable cost.

I remember having a discussion with the CTO of one of India’s largest mobile operators. He was very proud of how his organisation dealt with the so called field forces. Paid them less than a pittance, made them work 80 hours a week, no holiday, no safety training, no personal safety gear etc.

The other thing I have always found baffling: we did provide training and safety gear for our Field staff contractors. But more often than not, they would simply not use it.

Only after we created a joint venture to host field technicians, things did start to improve. We provided decent wages, holidays, training, safety gear. Made sure unsafe work was simply not allowed and could get you sacked. We quickly found that many folks would like to work with us and would also stay with us. Although the cost per employee was much higher than before, we actually got a much better productivity per employee. A large part of that was also due to the fact that properly trained and motivated people tend to do their job really well. So there was much less waste going on. I never understood why anybody would send somebody out into the field to trouble shoot a Radio Base Station without tools, without climbing gear, no spares. It sometimes took 5-7 trips to fix very simple stuff.

Far more efficient and pleasant for everyone involved to send one guy/girl with the right amount of tools, spares and a proper training and motivated knowing that when he/she does a good job it will be appreciated.

In Europe and the USA being a Field Technician is actually a well paid job. It needs a good education, lots of training and requires a very high degree of autonomy of the individual and trust from the employer in the employee.

I do see quite a few Youtube video’s on (Indian) breaker yards, where they claim to be (sorry for the pun) cleaning up their act. I would be a bit sceptical. It is one thing to have everybody wear a hardhat for the video. My opinion, it takes a very different approach to how you deal with your staff. Things might have taken a turn for the better since I left India.

Jeroen

[BlackBeard]

Originally Posted by Old_Salt

Odd, yes!
Last time when we called JNPT, customs boarded the vessel and sealed the Iridium hand phone. There is a circular sent around regarding banning of the use of satellite phones in Indian waters. If you have one on board, they will come and seal it on arrival.

Thuraya & Iridium satellite telephones usage is prohibited in Indian waters because of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.