“Shipbreaking” # 30 – The Ship Demolition World Tour
– The final 2012 sprint, p 6
– 2012, a record year, p 7
293 ships in 2006
1328 in 2012
– already broken up, but heading for demolition ! p 1
– ships without place of refuge, p 4
– a regular visitor to the Belgian Congo to be scrapped in Lithuania, p 67
“Shipbreaking”: An editorial success by Robin des Bois
The 29th publication of Ship-breaking.com is available (64 pages – 5,2 Mo)
This quarterly publication is an information bulletin and analysis on the demolition of vessels, Ship-breaking.com is read by thousands of specialists across the globe. The letters to the editor section point to the fact that the international public of Ship-breaking.com increases year after year.
The first edition of Ship-breaking.com was published in February 2006 in order for Robin des Bois to better understand the lifecycle of commercial ships and military vessels following the Clemenceau aircraft carrier affair. On this subject Ship-breaking.com has shown that exporting military vessels to Asia for demolition seems to be fixed in stone. Ship-breaking.com n°29 underlines this with the examples of the Russian cruiser Murmansk and the British frigate HMS Plymouth.
Two ships under early retirement at Marseille
Marseille has inherited two out of age cruiseships that should go to a museum or more logically to scrapping. They no longer meet the requirements of international conventions on the protection of passengers and crews, and on the protection of the environment (SOLAS and MARPOL Conventions of the International Maritime Organization). In 2011, the average age of passenger ships to be withdrawn from operation was 36 years.
The Athena was built in 1948, she is 64 years old now. She was the subject of a Robin des Bois’s press release on July 25, 2012 (See Alert in the Arctic). Robin des Bois repeats that the journey of this ship to the Arctic presents considerable risks. Her immobilization in Marseille due to unpaid bills if proof that the Portuguese shipowner does not have the means to properly maintain his ships, or even to pay his crews. Athena, under the name Stockholm, collided with the Italian cruise ship, Andrea Doria, off New York in July 1956 (see photos and records in the press release “Alert in the Arctic”).
“Shipbreaking” # 28
Everything on ship-breaking from April16th to July 15th
56 pages of texts and illustrations; “Shipbreaking” # 28 (pdf – 3,70 Mo)
– A scandal in Portugal.
– A fast ship leaves for breaking.
– Europe, number one exporter in the world … of out of use ships
– A sheep cruise liner runs aground in Chittagong
“Shipbreaking” # 27
“Shipbreaking” # 27, Robin des Bois’ periodical bulletin on ship demolition is available.
This edition contains inventories on the rush towards Asia of ships to be broken up, the prices of metal by country, portraits of the ex-Exxon Valdez and of the Pacific Princess gone for demolition in India and Turkey and the presentation of a ship-breaking facility project in Senegal.
74 pages of information and photos to discover the world of sea and shipping. (pdf – 3,9 Mo)
 Pacific Princess, the Love Boat is not enternaining anymore © ABC |
|
2011 “Shipbreaking” collection
1020 ships for scrap in 2011, a new record
| Unit | Tonnage of scrap metal | Category |
|
1 India 458 (45%) 2 Bangladesh 145 (14%) 3 China, 142 (14%) 4 Pakistan, 108 (11%), 5 Turkey, 72 (7%), 6 United States, 19 (2%) |
1 India 3,5 million t (43%) 2 Bangladesh 1,6 million t (19%) 3 China, 1,4 million t (17%) 4 Pakistan 1 million t (13%) 5 Turkey 206.000 t (3%) 6 United States 131.000 (1%) |
1 bulk carrier: 334 (33%) 2 general cargo: 234 (23%) 3 tankers : 209 (20%) 4 reefers : 50 (5%) 5 container ship : 48 (5%) |
For the third consecutive year, cleaning continues in the shipping world as over one thousand ships are disposed of. With 1020 units going for scrap, 2011 beats the 2009 record (1,006 ships). The demolition market grew by 7% compared to the previous year in terms of the number of ships and by 27% by volume of recycled metal. The size of the scrapped vessels is significantly greater with 268 ships over 200m against 168 in 2010. 24 vessels over 300m in length were sent for scrap among which two thirds of tankers and particularly double hulled VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers) some as young as 13 to 16 years of age.
« Shipbreaking » # 26
Farewell to Melquiades-Ville de Nantes, to the ex-Saint Clair, to the radioactive Pacific Sandpiper , and to 171 other vessels sent for demolition in November and December 2011. Latest photos of SeaFrance Cezanne being demolished on the beach at Alang.
When Life Gives You Bremens…
The cutting out of the cargo ship is a provocation regarding every observer endowed with common sense. The photos of the demolition demonstrate that even while the wreckage has its keel in the water, the shearing continues. The images of the polluted scrap metal floating in the sea water are overwhelming. They prove that the idea men and the workers on site disregard the marine environment, underestimating the effects of the contamination of the ecosystem and of the neighbouring marine communities by micro-pollutants from lead paint and operational residue from the ship itself. This shearing phase of the ship in the waves is comparable to rinsing scrap metal in the sea.
TK Bremen: Robin Des Bois draws out a prefectural mandate on emergency conservation efforts.
Following the Robin des Bois press conference this morning at 10:00 AM at Brest, the prefecture of Morbihan made public on their website at 2:34 PM the prefectural mandate regarding emergency conservation efforts surrounding the worksite for the deconstruction of the cargo ship TK Bremen. The recipient of this prefectural mandate is the ship owner, Blue Atlantic Shipping, ltd. based in Malta.
Robin des Bois estimates that the emergency conditions invoked by the prefecture are intended to precipitate work upon the demolition of the TK Bremen, to know the fragility of the hull, are not one in the same. If there is an emergency, it is to erase as fast as possible the traces of errors made at the time of the casting off of the ship and its navigation in the afternoon of December 15, 2011 and the night of the 16th.
