The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay
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Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker
August 2015 back issue
by K M Asad
In the shipyard, everyone works to capacity; no one has any time to talk. There are almost 30 shipyards in Old
Dhaka's Keraniganj area by the side of the Buriganga River, where ships, launches, and steamers of various sizes
and shapes are built and repaired around the clock.
The 10,000 or so workers, who toil in these dockyards, earn around $1 USD a day. But frequent accidents and heavy
human casualties often raise questions about the quality of the ships they produce. Constant work with flame, loud
noise and dust may seem painful to outsiders, but to the workers it’s their daily routine. These grafters never get tired;
they work on instinct and without breaks. Working without protective clothing, they climb tall rope ladders to the ships’
highest points, risking death if they slip but yet happily they keep working. It is a pleasure to be building ships.
Bangladesh has been ranked as one of the worst countries in the world in terms of workers’ rights. The International
Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) published the 2015 ITUC Global Rights Index, entitled ‘the world's worst countries
for workers’. Whilst legislation may spell out certain rights, workers in these shipyards effectively have no access to
these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.
Conditions can be hot and dangerous in shipyard industry.
Mohamed Yousuf, 9 years old, earns just $10 a month.
Conditions can be hot and dangerous.
There is little time to talk.
Work is noisy and dirty.
Work is frequently done without goggles.
Portrait of a little worker who cleans rusts from ships before they are painted.
Safety equipment is in short supply and accidents are frequent.
Bangladesh has been ranked as one of the worst countries in the world for workers’ rights.
There is little safety euipment available.
Melted metal to build new parts for a ship.
Melting metal.
Rubel is ten years old. He works like the men.
A child working at the shipyard. Working means missing out on a formal education.
Child worker.
Children are employed to do hard, manual labour.
Life is very hard in the shipyard.
Children clean rust from a ship before it is painted.
Wide view of the shipyard situated near Dhaka on the edge of the Burigonga River.
