236 meters long. The North Sea Producer, prized possession of Maersk, the number one ship owner in the world, has served the petroleum industry in the North Sea well for 18 years.
This former tanker was launched in 1984 in Denmark under the name Dagmar Maersk and was converted 12 years later into a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO). It was stationed in the Mc Chulloch oil field north of Aberdeen. The North Sea Producer retired in 2015 on the banks of the Tees next to the shipbreaking site of Able UK in Hartlepool where the former French aircraft carrier Clemenceau was demolished, and from there left Europe under tow. Maersk chose Bangladesh for the end of its life. In the last 9 years, 161 workers have been killed on the beaches of Chittagong. Maersk was not impeded by these facts. What really counts is selling at the best price. The scrappers of Bangladesh offered more than $6 million US for the North Sea Producer.

Only in French.

“If there was a first mistake, it was to think that a human creation was impervious to all forms of destruction, and the second was to be persuaded to also not develop a rescue solution in case of such a disaster,” says Pierre Bayard. “The Titanic will sink,” Editions de Minuit, Paris (France), October 2016.

Mega-cruisers like the MSC Meraviglia are the worst nightmare of maritime authorities and at-sea rescuers. Evacuating 7 to 8,000 people in case of a collision, fire, attack, or a shipwreck in high seas or at night is mission impossible. Ship owners do not even dare to practice this global drill in a sheltered and sunny bay. It is worth noting that in July 2016, Bermuda Islands, and in September 2016, 2 evacuation crewmen drills aboard the Norwegian Breakaway and the Harmony of the Seas (Marseille) have been marked by the sudden fall of 2 launchboats totalling 2 lives lost and 7 seriously injured.

Only in French.

Only in French.