Shipbreaking #50, from October 1 to December 31, 2017
– Since Issue # 1 (January 2006), “Shipbreaking” has accompanied 10,026 end-of-life ships, which is to say a 1715 km-long convoy, a tonnage of 87 million tons of scrap metal, about 2 million tons of waste and a US$ 33 billion market. Europe has demolished 219 of them.
– Alert on hazardous towing operations. Will the Puma (ex-Marechiaro, ex-Mira A, ex-Comenda, ex-Salvigour, ex-Yorkshireman) become the new Lyubov Orlova ?
Europe exports radioactive waste to Bangladesh
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.
Europe exports radioactive waste to Bangladesh
May 2017, Chittagong. Suspended dismantlement of the North Sea Producer.
© Sajjad Chowdhury
As Robin des Bois published in its quarterly bulletin “Shipbreaking” #47, in its kilometres of pipes the North Sea Producer contains radium scales. Radium is naturally present in the underwater substratum, the exploitation of gas and oil concentrates the radium in the pipes and tanks. Radium scales are highly toxic through inhalation and contact. For example, during the maintenance and dismantlement of the Lacq gas field in France, Total Production produced more than 2000 tons of metal contaminated by Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material. The official destination of this waste was the Soulaines storage center in Aube department under the responsibility of ANDRA, the National Agency for the Management of Radioactive Waste. Norway exploits a storage center for radioactive residuals from the petroleum offshore industry.
SHIPBREAKING – Bulletin of information and analysis on end-of-life ships
2018 – 2017 – 2016 – 2015 – 2014 – 2013 – 2012 – 2011 – 2010 – 2009 – 2008 – 2007 – 2006
Ships sent to demolition in 2024
Shipbreaking #72– from April 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024, pdf 97 pages, 16.8 Mo
Ships sent to demolition in 2023
Shipbreaking #71– from October 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024, pdf 97 pages, 16.2 MB
Shipbreaking #70– from April 1 to September 30, 2023, pdf 92 pages, 16.2 Mo
Shipbreaking #69– from January 1 to March 31, 2023, pdf 68 pages, 12.3 Mo
The Borodine in Riga, August 1982. © Yan Tikhonov
Ships sent to demolition in 2022
Shipbreaking #68– from July 1 to December 31, 2022, pdf 101 pages, 19Mo
Shipbreaking #67– from April 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022, pdf 63 pages, 12.3 Mo
Tomorrow, the United States launches a Submarine Aircraft Carrier
The sea is in its garbage finery once more. Tomorrow, when the Clemenceau is scheduled to arrive in Brest, the Oriskany, a former American aircraft carrier, will be deliberately sunk. This is to the satisfaction of leisure business, tourists and scuba diving enthusiasts who see in this programmed sinking a new pole of attraction, curiosity and revenue. Diving clubs have already started taking bookings: 145 USD for two, payable in advance.
In Canada and the United States, a lot of mega-bulky waste that no one knows what to do with at the end of their life is thrown into the sea as part of artificial reef programs. Everything goes: Boeings, subway trains, and old cars.
