A/HRC/12/26 page 7 According to recent figures, 96 per cent of GT ships were dismantled in these four countries in the course of 2008: 202 in India, 165 in Bangladesh, 29 in China and 16 in Pakistan.2 16. Shipbreaking in South Asia takes place on sandy beaches, a method commonly referred to as “beaching”. Thanks to the large intertidal zone areas existing on its coasts, at high tide ships are driven, usually under their own steam, onto sandy beaches and dismantled without concrete covering or any other containment other than the hull of the ship itself. Since 2004, more than 80 per cent of end-of-life vessels of 500 GT and above have been scrapped on tidal beaches in South Asia.3 17. Alang, a coastal town in the Indian state of Gujarat, is the world’s largest scrapping site for ocean-going vessels. On average, 300 ships per year are beached for dismantling at its yards. Other major shipbreaking yards are located in Kolkata, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Goa and Mumbai. In Bangladesh, where shipbreaking started on an industrial scale in recent years, shipbreaking activities take place on the seashore from Khulna to Fauzderhat in Chittagong and near Mongla port in Khulna. In Pakistan, the shipbreaking industry is concentrated along the coasts of Gadani, west of the port city of Karachi. 18. The current situation of the ship-recycling market is characterized by fierce competition between Bangladesh, India and (to a lesser extent) Pakistan, while other competitors with greater technical capacity, such as facilities in China, Turkey and the European Union, are only able to occupy market niches for special types of ships, small vessels, or the fleet of particularly committed shipowners. 2. Toxic and dangerous substances on end-of-life ships 19. When sent for dismantling, end-of-life vessels represent one of the major streams of hazardous waste transferred from industrialized countries to the developing world. Ships, in particular those built before 1980, contain large amounts of toxic and hazardous substances and materials which may cause death or illness to human beings and produce long-term adverse effects on the natural environment. Although many of the hazardous materials used to build a ship are restricted or banned today, a ship built 20-30 years ago still contains these materials. The list of toxic and hazardous substances and materials that may be present on ships sent to recycling normally includes the following:4 (a) Asbestos. Asbestos is a highly toxic substance that has been banned or severely restricted for health or environmental reasons by several States, and is included in the list of 2 EA Gibson Shipbrokers Ltd., 2008. 3 Lloyd’s Register - Fairplay, 2008. 4 A comprehensive list of hazardous wastes and substances that may be on board or inherent in the structure of end-of-life vessels sent for scrapping is included in appendix B to the Technical Guidelines for the Environmentally Sound Management of the Full and Partial Dismantling of Ships. See infra, para. 44.