Posts Tagged "démolition des navires"

In referring to Article R 304-11 of the Code of Maritime Ports (1), the Port Authority of the port of Lorient – Morbihan – could have proceeded with the postponement of the departure of the TK Bremen. In effect, this 30 year-old ship had reached the age of demolition. She presented numerous deficiencies. The absence of panels on the entire hold, as was demonstrated before by aerial photos – might be one more of them. The ship had been recently detained in a Russian port and its Turkish ship owner, proprietor of two older ships, did not immediately furnish all of the guarantees of reliability. The profile of the TK Bremen was such that those responsible for the security and of the traffic of the port of Lorient should have, in view of the imminent dangers about to confront them in a dangerous maritime environment rich in marine life, banned its departure.

The CFDT Union is occupying all SeaFrance ferries at Calais. However, the Union allowed SeaFrance Cezanne and SeaFrance Renoir to head toward Alang. Economically, it was a good deal. Whoever would be the buyer for SeaFrance, he would not assume responsibility for the dismantling of the two polluted ferries in Europe. On the other hand, the sale of Sea France Cezanne and Sea France Renoir brought SeaFrance, a subsidiary of SNCF, around € 7 million.

Scrapping at Alang in India proved to be a good deal for the buyer of SeaFrance, and his pocket, if one.

Despite virtuous official speeches and the European regulations on the exportation of waste, the flight of European ships to Asian shipyards continues. The same sleight of hand repeats tirelessly: miraculous sale to a non-European ghost ship owner, de-flagging under lax colors and incognito scrapping.

The latest of these European ships on their last legs are SeaFrance Renoir and SeaFrance Cezanne ; the former having  just arrived at Alang, the latter, expected to arrive in the next few days.

To make matters worse, the two ships were owned by a subsidiary of a public company, SNCF. Despite statements of intent, exemplary conditions are once again missing. Other French victims of inertia and hypocrisy, the demolition yards required during the Clemenceau’s case by environmental organizations, trade unions and even the Grenelle Environment Forum and Grenelle of the Sea, are stayed dead.

SeaFrance, subsidiary of the SNCF (french national railroad company), sold the two car ferries SeaFrance Cezanne and SeaFrance Renoir in the Port of Dunkirk this summer. They were sold to two Panamanian companies who then immediately replaced the French flag with that of Belize.

The Cezanne and Renoir were decommissioned in February and September 2009 respectively. The Renoir, renamed Eastern Light, now sits off the Bay of Alang waiting for authorization to be beached and dismantled.

This tragic and particularly hypocritical outcome was instigated by a French shipowner of which the state owns 100%.

Discover the awful story of Canadian Miner. A ship sent to Turkey for demolition Turkey and then ran aground off Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. Plus, the Iraqi Al-Zahraa, Saddam Hussein’s tank carrier locked down for 21 years at Bremerhaven, was sent Lithuania for demolition. Learn about Monte Stello, a Corsican car ferry, pronounced defunct after running a shore in Sardinia on January 1, 1994. It then resurrected in Norway, resold in New Zealand and destroyed in China. Read about Zoé, a Greek cruise ship, that never sailed and was sent for demolition in Turkey. Count the old petroleum tankers who head to Pakistan’s beaches, escort by the perpetual movement of boats that head to destinations far away. Follow Probo Koala step by step.