> Any insights on why companies doing ship breaking wouldn't invest at least some of the returns into their own facilities? > people don't figure out ways to

> Any insights on why companies doing ship breaking wouldn't invest at least some of the returns into their own facilities? > people don't figure out ways to do it better/more efficiently/safer? From the article, it sounds like cost is really the only competitive advantage the Southeast Asian shipbreakers have. The capital and maintenance expense of facility upgrades would probably destroy any (cost-based) competitive advantage. Labor is really, REALLY cheap in India. The corresponding economic gap is actually a big catch-22 insofar as investing in automation, but that's a discussion for another time...