Where the world's ships go to die

26 May 2012 Last updated at 20:02 ET Help

The beaches off the Bangladeshi city of Chittagong form one of the world's largest graveyards for ships.

The government of Bangladesh does not allow filming in these huge ship-breaking yards, so the BBC's Simon Reeve and his guide Morshed Ali Khan took a boat trip to view one of the most spectacular sights of the Indian Ocean.

Ship-breaking is dirty and dangerous work and scores of workers are believed to be killed here annually, but for the owners of the yards it is a lucrative business.

Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve continues on Sunday 27 May at 20:00 BST on BBC Two. Catch up online at BBC iPlayer (UK only) or watch more clips at the above link.

Read more about Simon's Indian Ocean adventures or leave a comment on his blog here: From curried fruit bat to armoured underwear

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