7 Shipyard Workers Die in 6 Months

According to a list kept by the shipyard workers' trade union LİMTER-İŞ, seven shipyard workers have died in the first six months of this year.

The list has been kept since 1992, and there are 124 deaths noted. This number is the absolute minimum, as the trade union argues that deaths have been kept from the media or hushed up.

The last worker to die was painter Hüseyin İbir, who died in a gas explosion at the Steel Ship Shipyard in Tuzla, outside of Istanbul.

The trade union says that the ongoing accidents and deaths show that it is not enough for the Ministry of Labour to force shipyards to employ certified workers. Rather, workers need work safety and the assurance of work.

In the past, the trade union has spoken of "work place murders", refusing to accept the terminology of "accidents" any longer.

A long list of "work place murders"

The people who died this year and last year are listed below. When no place is mentioned in the following list, the death took place at one of the many shipyards in Tuzla.

8 June 2009: Painter Hüseyin İbir (29), at the Steel Ship Shipyard. He died in a gas explosion.

10 April 2009: Welder Aydın Can (39), working for Marmara Shipyard in Kocaeli, died after falling from a great hight.

10 March 2009: Mustafa Sıva (23), working on a ship in Aliağa under a Maltese flag, died of poisoning.

5 March 2009: Assembler Şinasi Öztürk, working at the Türker Shipyard in Gölcük, died when sheet metal weighing 1.5 tons fell on top of him.

18 February 2009: Cemil Akgül (29), working for Elta Shipping, died after receiving an electric shock

8 February 2009: Selim Sevgili (30), working for the Dentaş subcontractor, died when a storage lid was dropped on him.

13 December 2008: Erdal İnceyol, working for Anadolu Sea Construction Cradles, died in an explosion

19 December 2008: Hızır Akbulut, injured in the same explosion, died in hospital.

20 December 2008: Aydın Kaplan (31) fell from a great height at a shipyard in Gölcük. He died after twenty days in intensive care.

12 September 2008: Muharrem Ceylan (16) died of electric shock at the Kurban shipyard in the Herkes village in Yalova

28 August 2008: Emrah Varol, Ramazan Aygün and Ramazan Çetinkaya died in an accident with a cutter at the Gisan shipyard.

29 July 2008: İbrahim Çelik, working for the Atlas Ship subcontractor at the GEMSAN shipyard in Tuzla, was carrying out repairs in the pump room when an explosion took place. He was hit in the head and seriously injured. He died on the way to hospital.

3 July 2008: Kemal Turan (47), working at the GİSAŞ shipyard, died when a storage lid fell on him.

8 June2008: İhsan Turan (35) also died when a storage lid was dropped on him.

17 May 2008: Murat Çalışkan (31), fell into a depot on deck of a ship and died.

17 May 2008: Deniz Kaşıkeman (26) died when he was mounting metal sheets. A metal sheet estimated to weigh 2.5 tons dropped on him.

8 May 2008: İzzet Gider died in an explosion after gas was compressed in the machine room.

21 April 2008: Hakan Oğuz (18) died at the Yaşar San shipyard in Yalova after falling onto his yed.

30 March 2008: Ali İhsan Çam (31) was working as a painter at the Sedef shipyard. He fell from a height and died.

27 March 2008: Yüksel Özdemir (45) was working as a scraper at Tuzla shipyards. He fell from a great height.

17 February 2008 Hasan Köse (24) suffered 80 percent burns of his body after an oxygen tube exploded at the Selahattin Arslan shipyard in Tuzla.

16 February 2008: Mikail Kavak (26) died of electrocution when working as a welder for the Gemkur subcontractor.

12 February 2008: Osman Göç (26) was poisoned by smoke while welding. He was able to go to the doctor's who sent him home. When he got worse at night, he was taken to hospital, where he died.

12 February 2008: Cevat Toy (41) was working at the Dearsan shipyard when he fell of the wharf and died.

5 February 2008: Metin Turan (19) was working as a scraper at the Şahin Çelik shipyard: He fell into the sea and died.

14 January 2008 Onur Bayoğlu (19) was working as an electrician for Sedef shipyard. He fell into a depot and died. (EZÖ/AG)