Balisage

Gigantic ocean liners and other types of ships such as container ships have worried towing and sea salvage specialists for years. Such large vessels worried the sailor and writer Joseph Conrad a century ago. Back in May 1912, one month after the Titanic tragedy, , he imagined the horrors and doubts of a night-watchman in the future, that is to say today. “ You are at night on the bridge in charge of a 150,000 tons ship, with a motor track, organ-loft etc. with a full cargo of passengers, a full crew of 1,500 cafe waiters, two sailors and a boy and three collapsible boats (.). You perceive suddenly right ahead, and close to, something that looks like a large ice-floe. What do you do? “(1).

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.

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.

Only in French.

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.

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.

A Demolition Derby
The demolition of the TK Bremen on French territory is a spectacular example of the administrative simplification so dear to the government. The dumping of this industrial waste amounting to 2,000 tons is containing asbestos in several forms, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), hydrocarbon traces, lead paint, mercury and tin are not submitted to French and European control’s temporary authorization for a Classified Facility for the Protection of the Environment. The guidelines of the Bale Convention and the International Maritime Organization on the dismantlement of ships are not being respected. Robin des Bois requests that the prefect of Morbihan, the maritime prefecture, and the labor inspectors publish the map of dangerous waste present on the TK Bremen, if it exists.

A Demolition Derby

The demolition of the TK Bremen on French territory is a spectacular example of the administrative simplification so dear to the government. The dumping of this industrial waste amounting to 2,000 tons is containing asbestos in several forms, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), hydrocarbon traces, lead paint, mercury and tin are not submitted to French and European control’s temporary authorization for a Classified Facility for the Protection of the Environment. The guidelines of the Bale Convention and the International Maritime Organization on the dismantlement of ships are not being respected. Robin des Bois requests that the prefect of Morbihan, the maritime prefecture, and the labor inspectors publish the map of dangerous waste present on the TK Bremen, if it exists.

TK Bremen(ex-Melinau Satu, ex-Melinau, ex-Elm). OMI 8113487. Marchandises diverses. Longueur 109 m. Pavillon Malte. Société de classification Bureau Veritas. Construit en 1982 à Pusan (Corée du Sud) par Dae Sun SB & E Co. Son armateur turc Adriyatik GemiIsletmeciligi contrôle 8 navires, tous sous pavillon maltais, construits entre 1982 et 1985. Chacun d’entre eux est officiellement la propriété de « single ship companies » sauf dans le cas du TK Bremen où il s’agit d’une « double ship company », la Blue Atlantic Shipping, également détentrice du TK London. Les dommages financiers provoqués par la dérive et l’échouage du TK Bremen seront à la charge de cette seule compagnie basée dans l’Union Européenne, à Malte.

TK Bremen (ex-Melinau Satu, ex-Melinau, ex-Elm). IMO 8113487. General cargo. Length 109 meters. Maltese flag. Classification society Bureau Veritas. Built in 1982 at Pusan (South Korea) by Dae Sun SB & E Co. her Turkish ship owner Adriyatik GemiIsletmeciligi controls 8 ships, all Maltese-flagged, built between 1982 and 1985. Each of them is officially the property of “single ship company” except in the TK Bremen’s case where it happens to be a “double ship company”, Blue Atlantic Shipping, ltd., also holds the TK London. The financial damages provoked by the drifting and beaching of the TK Bremen are chargeable to this single company based in the European Union at Malta.