Two years after SN Corporation blast, families still wait for justice

Two years after an explosion at SN Corporation’s shipbreaking yard in Sitakunda killed seven workers, their families say compensation has failed to provide long-term security, while labour and rights experts question why no one has yet been held accountable.

The September 7, 2024 explosion aboard the MT Suvarna Swarajya killed seven workers and critically injured several others.

At a discussion titled “The Human Cost of Breaking Ships: Accountability, Reparation and Non-Recurrence in Bangladesh’s Shipbreaking Industry”, jointly organised by Sapran – Safeguarding All Lives and the All Victims and Veterans Network (AVN) in Dhaka on Monday, relatives of those killed spoke of struggles to support their families, while experts said the deaths reflected persistent failures in workplace safety, regulation and accountability in Bangladesh’s shipbreaking industry.

Bareesh Hasan Chowdhury, policy and campaigns coordinator at the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), questioned SN Corporation’s accountability for accidents at its yards.

“This is happening constantly at different yards of SN Corporation, yet we have never been able to ensure accountability. Where is SN Corporation’s accountability here?” he said.

Chowdhury said paying statutory compensation could not absolve a company of its wider responsibility to reform unsafe practices.

“Just compensation is not enough. There is also the question of rehabilitation,” he said, calling for the company’s licence or no-objection certificate to be revoked until necessary reforms are implemented.

A research paper presented at the dialogue also raised questions over how the Suvarna Swarajya explosion occurred despite the vessel having received a gas-free certificate.

Opshora Islam Tondra, a researcher at Sapran-Safeguarding All Lives, said dangerous gases had remained inside the engine room while work continued without adequate safety precautions.

“A question remains: how can workers die while cutting a ship that was initially certified as gas-free?” she said.

Tondra described what she called a “green yard paradox,” arguing that certification and formal compliance do not necessarily translate into safety for workers.

The research also pointed to opaque vessel ownership, cash buyers, selling companies and the use of “flags of convenience” as factors that can make responsibility difficult to trace when accidents occur.

For the families, however, the consequences are more immediate.

Sabina Khatun’s husband, Habibur Rahman, was among those killed. She said she learned of the explosion from the news before rushing with her children to Chattogram Medical College Hospital.

Habibur was later transferred to Dhaka, where he died on September 11, four days after the explosion.

Sabina said the company paid the family 500,000 taka, while another 200,000 taka came through the labour court. But two years later, she said, the money offers little protection against the long-term consequences of losing the family’s principal earner.

Her daughter, now in Class Six, has won a government scholarship, but Sabina said she cannot afford to send her to a better school.

“I cannot afford to give her a good education,” she said. “If you can do something for my two children, please do it.”

Tayebur Rahman, assistant director-programme at Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), said compensation should reflect a worker’s age, future earning capacity and the economic and emotional losses suffered by the family.

A 25-year-old worker and a 50-year-old worker, he said, cannot be compensated on the same basis because their remaining earning potential differs substantially.

Rahman pointed to the Employment Injury Scheme, operating since 2022 in selected ready-made garment factories, as a possible model. Continuing financial support, he said, could provide families with greater security than a one-off payment.

Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, executive director of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), said fragmented regulatory responsibility was also weakening enforcement.

Several agencies oversee different aspects of the shipbreaking industry, he said, but poor coordination allows responsibility to be shifted from one authority to another.

“People obey the law when they believe there is punishment for breaking it. But so far, no one has been punished for any of these accidents,” Ahmed said.

He called for investigation reports into workplace deaths to be made public so their causes can be identified and future accidents prevented.

Saima Karim Shanon, assistant human rights officer at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said such incidents should be treated as structural failures rather than isolated accidents. Accountability, she said, should extend across the industry’s chain of ownership and responsibility.

MP Abdullah Al Amin cited the power imbalance between workers and employers, workers’ reluctance to pursue legal action and weak enforcement as major barriers to justice.

Romana Schweiger, senior adviser on rule of law at UNDP Bangladesh, said victims and their families needed accessible legal aid to seek effective remedies. She also pointed to a potential role for the National Human Rights Commission in investigating cases, advocating reparations and pressing for measures to prevent recurrence.

For Sarmin Begum, whose husband Zahangir Hawladar was also killed in the explosion, the inadequacy of a one-off payment is stark.

Zahangir was his elderly mother’s only son, and his children also depended on his income.

“What can five lakh taka do? How long can five lakh taka last?” Sarmin said, calling instead for regular financial assistance to bereaved families.

SN Corporation later offered her son a job at the same shipbreaking yard.

She refused.

“My husband died there,” Sarmin said. “I will never let my son work there.”

--