SHIP DEMOLITION

Only in French.

The Chambord, oil tanker for Société Maritime des Pétroles BP was built in Dunkirk by Ateliers et Chantiers de France. On January 11, 1955, her launch ceremony under the French flag was presided over by Jacques Chaban-Delmas, Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Merchant Navy, in front of a crowd of notable spectators who arrived in two special trains and a fleet of coaches and cars. With her length of 203.39 m, width of 26.25 m, and 33,000 t of deadweight, she was a giant and the flagship of the French oil tanker fleet. Complete with individual, air-conditioned cabins for all, private bathrooms with showers for the officers, cool water dispensers in all of the corridors, refrigerators at all stations, and a saltwater pool, she was a symbol of rebirth and universal progress. Three sisterships left the shipyard in Dunkirk between 1955 and 1958, the Chenonceaux, Cheverny and Chaumont. The Chambord had made her maiden voyage between Marseille and Al Ahmadi (Kuwait) in May 1955. For 17 years, she supplied the French BP refineries.

– Alert on knowingly wreckless towings of offshore platforms and discarded ships from Northern Europe to Turkey. The case of the two Maersk supply ships sunk off Brittany is dissected. Letter on this subject to the authorities concerned, including the two Maritime Prefects of the French Atlantic coast.

– The end of Shen Neng 1. In 2010, she polluted and degraded the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland, Australia, to gain 2 miles on a 4500-mile return voyage to China.

– The Rio Tagus has been stuck since 2010 or how the French government and the port of Sète are trying to get rid of a bulky wreck.

In accordance with a press release by Robin des Bois dated June 16, 2017 and with numerous prior reports in the NGO’s quarterly publication “Shipbreaking”, the Bangladesh Supreme Court has just banned the dismantling of the North Sea Producer, a former FPSO (Floating Production Storage Offloading), i. e. a floating plant used to refine and store crude oil extracted through offshore platforms.

In close succession, Alang Bay, Gujarat State, India, and the workers have welcomed three discarded ships belonging to European ship owners and liable to present “hot spots” of radioactivity.

1- The BBC Shanghai, a general cargo ship. She has been carrying nuclear waste, notably between France and Australia (Cf. “BBC Shanghai, a radioactive risk for Asia”, september 12, 2017)

2- The Atlantic Cartier, built in 1985 in Dunkirk, France. She flies the Swedish flag. She is a Ro Ro container ship able in her initial profile to ship 2100 boxes and 600 cars. She was jumboized in 1987. She suffered a major fire in Hamburg, Germany, during the night of May 1st, 2013.

French authorities are delaying a final decision concerning the Rio Tagus. At this time, they are contemplating exporting the old freighter under the regulations on transboundary movements of waste, but they do not respond to two essential questions.

Can the Rio Tagus be exempt from the application of European regulations on ship dismantling? Can the Rio Tagus be towed away in compliance with requirements on maritime safety and environmental protection?

For Robin des Bois, the answer to both questions is no.

October 2015. The BBC Shanghai, owned by Germany-based Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co KG, is making the headlines of the world’s maritime shipping news. She has been selected by the French nuclear operator AREVA to ship to Australia radioactive waste reprocessed in Normandy at the La Hague plant. However, the ship had a bad record regarding technical deficiencies as attested by the maritime authorities of all continents; she had been detained three times in Bilbao (Spain), Gladstone (Australia) and in March 2015 in Honolulu (Hawaii, United States). The international mobilization to demand the chartering of a safe ship will do nothing about it, the BBC Shanghai loads 25 tons of radioactive waste and leaves Cherbourg (France) on October 15 for Port Kembla near Sydney. Indonesia has denied her access to its waters. She arrived at Port Kembla on December 5 after a 25,000 km trip.

Bangladesh has the most deficient ratio – 42 ships – 3 deaths.
Indonesia has the best productivity. 81 illegal fishing boats were demolished in 15 seconds.

Palau is the trendy funeral flag this quarter. 11 ships were deflagged to Palau just prior to be sent for scrapping. 17 of the 45 ships deflagged for their last voyage belonged to European shipowners.

The purchase price offered by shipbreaking yards in the second quarter of 2017 is around 350 US$ per ton in the Indian Sub-continent and around 250 US$ in China and in Turkey. The cumulated tonnage of scrapped ships is 1.6 million tons. The tanker Catherine Knudsen built in 1992 in Nagasaki, Norwegian-owned and Norwegian-flagged, was sold for more than 8 million US$. She was deflagged to Palau for her last voyage.

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.