MSC Flaminia : to remove the doubts about radioactivity

23 Aug 2012

MSC Flaminia
Press release no. 4

Inspection of the damaged container ship before she crosses the English Channel and the North Sea will take place in the coming days.

German experts along with British, Dutch and French specialists shall examine the condition of the vessel, her containers and her cargo.

Robin des Bois wishes this expertise to be completed by a radiological diagnosis of the ship. Hundreds of containers are damaged and the charterer of MSC Flaminia, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), is known to occasionally transport radioactive materials. The company is also known for a lack of transparency when it comes to publishing, when required, an inventory of transported goods. In November 1997, the MSC Carla broke in two off the Azores during a journey from Le Havre to Boston. MSC have remained silent with regards to the nature of the cargo, and it was three days after the accident that the French Nuclear Installations Safety Directorate (DSIN) announced that three sealed radioactive sources for use in American hospitals were aboard MSC Carla; they sank with the fore section, whilst the aft section was towed to the Canary Islands.

Moreover, Germany today announced that the MSC Flaminia should go for unloading at Jade Weser Port, the new port in Wilhelmshaven. A great opportunity for promotion, advertising and an important reliability test for this new container ship port, close to Bremerhaven, where MSC Flaminia, following unloading, should be towed for inspection of her hull and for works required to keep her operational, or to make her safe prior to dismantling.

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