Ship breaking, also known as ship recycling, disposal, or demolition, involves deconstructing vessels into saleable or conventionally disposable components.
Most ship breaking now is done in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and China, with a small amount in Turkey. Most of these operations are technically unsophisticated, generally involving beaching the vessel under power, removing motors, electronics, and such, then cutting up the vessel's steel for scrap. Ship breaking is the source of millions of tons of steel each year.
Concerns have been raised about environmental and worker safety in ship breaking yards.