SHIP DEMOLITION

The 32nd bulletin of information and analysis on Ship-breaking is published (75 pages). It covers the month of May, June and July 2013. In 8 years, the ship-breaking bulletin has become a reference in this field across the globe. Information and photographs are sent to Robin des Bois by regular or occasional correspondents.

Over the last three months, 271 ships have been sent to demolition. They total over 2.2 million tonnes of metal. 106 (39%) were built in Europe, 88 (32%) belonged to European owners, 241 (89%) were sent to Asia.

Bulletin of information and analysis on ship demolition

Europe is sending illegally more and more vessels to be broken up in Asia. She is not the only one doing this way.

In this edition :

– Overview January 1 to April 30, 2013

– MSC Flaminia

– Baco-Liner

– Marseille, the waiting room for scrapping in Asia

– The scandalous export of the Lyubov Orlova

– Welcome to Chennai Port, the Nightmare before Scrapping

– Letters to the Editor

– France Telecom cable layer Chamarel

The Atlantic Star remained disused in Marseille for more than 2 years. Construction of the Atlantic Star at La Seyne-sur-Mer in 1984 had mobilized, as in all cruise ships, significant amounts of asbestos.

The ship belonged to the Spanish shipowner Pullmantur, a subsidiary of the American company Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. Her operation became prohibitive; replacing her steam turbines with a diesel propulsion was impossible. The Atlantic Star, still in the hands of Spanish interests, remained under the European flag of Malta until March 1, 2013.

In 2013, when the former Atlantic Star, renamed Antic, leaves Marseille for demolition at Alang without asbestos removal, silence reigns.

In 2006, when the former Clemenceau, renamed hull Q790, went to Alang for demolition after a partial asbestos removal in France, a politically correct, unanimous roar rang out.

The Atlantic Star is a 240m-long ship built in 1984 in the shipyards of La Seyne-sur-Mer in France, an asbestos stronghold. It was abandoned in Marseille in 2010. The Atlantic Star belonged to the Spanish subsidiary of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL).

The ship was docked along the main jetty of the port of Marseille. Since September 2010, she imposed herself as a five-star squatter while, despite her silhouette and red chimney, she tried to blend in and make believe that her port of call was temporary.

Initially her stopover in Marseille was technical. There was talk of replacing steam turbines with diesel engines. From technical, the stopover quickly became economical. There is no future for a ship built 30 years ago without considerable expense and a regulatory upgrade.

Lyubov Orlova – Press release # 5

According to the Rescue Coordination Center at Halifax in Canada, the Lyubov Orlova’s emergency beacon went off during the night of Saturday February 23rd. The most likely hypothesis would be that the Lyubov Orlova has sunk. The emergency beacon was either installed on the cruise ship or on one of the lifeboats onboard. It went off at 51°46.00 N and 35°41.00W i.e.: 1,700km (1,000 nm) from the European coastline which is to say closer than the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency reported on February 21st.

Lyubov Orlova – Press release # 4

If the latest news transmitted by the US maritime information services are confirmed, the Lyubov Orlova is closer to the American shores than the European ones.

Consequently, Robin des Bois asks Canada to initiate and finance all operational means in order to recapture the vessel and bring her back in a place of refuge. Thereafter, Canada, where the Lyubov Orlova had been seized in September 2010 and later on abandoned, should propose a new dismantling plan, different from the initial one. Scrapping the Lyubov Orlova in a unreliable ship-breaking yard in the Dominican Republic would be an additional scandal indeed.

Only in French.

Lyubov Orlova, Press release # 2

The decomissioned cruise ship Lyubov Orlova, now drifting in the Atlantic, is the responsibility of the Canadian authorities. Bearing the flag of the Cook Islands, the Lyubov Orlova was abandoned in the port of Saint John in Newfoundland in 2010, supposedly headed for demolition in the Dominican Republic after being sold by a Canadian broker to a Canadian resident of Iranian origins with interests in Saint-Domingue. Canada, the most recent country to harbour the cruise ship previously used for Arctic cruises, arranged for the Charlene Hunt, a tug boat constructed in 1962, to tow the ship on January 23. Shortly after the depart of the two ships, the tow cable broke, setting the Lyubov Orlova adrift. Due to security reasons, the Charlene Hunt was forced to return to the port of Saint-John. After the discovery of several deficiencies during the inspection of the vessel by the Canadian authorities, the Charlene Hunt must remain in port. Instead of inspecting the Charlene Hunt before its departure with the Lyubov Orlova in tow, as would have been in compliance with international maritime regulations, the Canadian authorities waited until after its return to port ; demonstrating a serious lack of foresight considering the requirements for a trans-oceanic towing.

The Hua Wen, ex-Probo Koala is going to be demolished in the coming weeks in China. From August 2006 on, the scattering in Abidjan of desulphurization waste containing mercaptan and hydrogen sulphide has provoked a panic and the paralysis of Ivory Coast business capital. 16 fatalities were officially reported; the victims had been exposed to the toxic emanations. The toxic and stinky waste which had been unloaded from the Probo Koala slop tanks had illegally left Amsterdam and Tallinn, two North European ports (1).