The drive to the Chittagong shipbreaking yards betrays the character of the destination. The road is dotted with shops selling remnants of once-floating behemoths. Timber, torn out of ships, and wood in all shapes and sizes being sold are the most common sight. This is scrap wood and will be used in the construction business, I am told. In fact, all extractable parts of a ship is removed and sold.

Extract and sell Then, there is furniture. Of every possible kind. Also chandeliers. "Most of these have been taken out of luxury cruise ships,' Mohammed Monsur Ali, assistant secretary, Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association (bsba), tells me. Toilet fittings, the next in the league of accessories, need to be