The practice of shipbreaking in the world was started mainly during the British Tudor Dynasty (1475-1603). Before this, the old wooden ships were burned.

The British were called the pioneers of the shipbreaking industry,
later it was adopted by Italy in 1892 and Japan in 1896.
As a heavy industry based sector, shipbreaking was initially conducted in developed countries such as the US, UK, Germany and Italy. However, due to strict environmental regulations and high tax fines, the work was subsequently relocated to shipyards in Asian countries such as China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam.

The journey of the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh began due to a natural disaster instead of proper planning and implementation. During the cyclone of ‘Bhola’ in 1960 a Greek ship ’MD Alpine’ was stranded on the shores of Sitakund, Chittagong. Due to the ship being severely damaged to an unrepairable condition, The Greek company did not take any action to rescue the ship and it was stranded for a long time. In 1964, Chittagong Steel House purchased the ship and began dismantling it for scrap.

During the Liberation War in 1971, a Pakistani ship ’Al Abbas’ was damaged by bombing. Later, a Soviet rescue team collected the remaining scrap of the ship and brought it to Faujdarhat beach. In 1974, Karnafully Metal Works Ltd. Bought the ship. That’s when the commercialization of Bangladesh’s ship breaking industry began.

1980s was the golden age for the ship recycling industry in Bangladesh and we have started our ship recycling facilities during this golden period.

1985

Kabir Steel Limited was established

1986

Khawja Ship Breaking Limited was established

1996

Both the yard were incorporated

2002

World third largest vessel (in that time)
KAPETAN GIANNI (LDT 72,947 Ton) dismantled in KSBL

2009

The Hong Kong International Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships

2011