Hunting down the Onyx (4)
Prayati Shipping PVT, based in Bombay, owner of the car ferry Onyx, confirms its position as a wrecking ship owner. Asian ship-breaking yards appear to be the only destination of the vessels of its “fleet”.
Identified in the summer of 2009 for having sold the old tanker President to a demolition yard in Bangladesh, only a couple of months after having bought it, Prayati Shipping PVT had also become at the same time the owner of the Rose S, a bulk carrier built in 1976 (see “Hunting down the Onyx, February 4, 2010). Today, the owner just got rid of the Onyx which was detained in ports across the world, and which has not sailed since her purchase: the Rose S has just been beached for demolition in Alang.
Hunting down the Onyx (2)
In a letter addressed to Robin des Bois on February 3rd 2010, the Squadron Vice Admiral, Head of the Maritime Authority in the French Atlantic, subjected the departure of the old car ferry Onyx to weather permitting conditions in order to guarantee the safety of the crew members aboard. It appears as though the weather cleared up at around 10:00 am, the time when the Onyx departed. The letter also mentions that the decision to stop the detention of the Onyx would be taken “under the condition that she was taken to a port for repair”. Brest was therefore only the port of handiworks and fast repair.
Hunting down the Onyx (1)
The Onyx is a car ferry which has 30 years of service in Scandinavia under her belt. She was considered as waste by Finland’s Environmental Authority, but as any waste is considered recoverable according to the doctrine of sustainable development she was bought by an Indian ship owner, Prayati Shipping PVT. This company initially claimed that the ex-Casino Express will be used to transport cars in the Middle East and in a second statement that she will undergo transformations in Turkey with the intention of keeping her in service.
