Description : Asbestos and other toxic chemicals stored in the Norwegian ship ‘UMA’. Chittagong. The over all conditions of all the ship breaking yards are almost the same. Ship breaking is done in open yards on the beach of the Bay of Bengal. They are not scientifically or technically organized and the management is also primitive. It poses a serious threat to the workers as well as the environment. Ship breaking, popularly known as 'beaching', started as a business in 1972. The Ship breaking Yards, on the beach of the Bay of Bengal, spreads about 8 square kilometers in Sitakunda of Chittagong. Bangladesh.