shipbreaking

There are corners of the world where lost things gather, remote shores that receive the castoffs of industrial society. Alang, India, is such a place, a colossal chop shop fronting the Arabian Sea. On 3 miles of hulk-littered coast, 40,000 laborers dismember defunct oceangoing vessels that Western nations and Russia sell to Indian "shipbreaking" companies. About 400 supertankers, container vessels, and bulk carriers - even the occasional cruise liner - end up each year on the oil-stained sands of Alang, stranded and doomed like so many beached whales.

Through this excellent Monkeyfilter post, a haunting gallery of ships being dismantled.
Via Wacky Neighbor