An ex nuclear-powered cargo ship to be demolished in Alang
Without any drumming up, Germany, pioneer in Europe on the application of nuclear energy to power vessels, has let the ex Otto Hahn leave to be manually demolished in Alang bay India. She was launched in 1967 and represents the symbol of failure concerning the first wave of nuclear powered merchant ships. The Otto Hahn was reconverted into a conventional cargo vessel in 1980. The nuclear reactor of 38 MW was removed, yet it is legitimate to suspect that after having been exploited for thirteen years structural elements were exposed to uncontrolled radiation or radioactive releases. In August 1973 the vessel was the victim of a major accident when two fuel elements of the reactor broke.
The End of the last French three-masted ship
After being laid up for several years in Trinidad in the Caribbeans, the ex Oiseau des Iles built by the French shipyard Dubigeon in Nantes in 1935 was sent to be demolished.
The valuable and moving history of this gem of naval construction ranges from the Loire Estuary to the West Indies passing by the South Ocean to French Polynesia and the west coast of Mexico.
“Shipbreaking” n°17
In February 2009, « because of the restricted visibility due to foggy conditions » the chemical tanker Kashmir loaded with 30.000 t of oil condensates used by the petrochemical industry collided with the container-ship Sima Saman 13 km off Dubaï. The fire which broke out was only brought under control late at night. The plume of smoke darkened the industrial zone and the port of Jebel Ali, south of Dubaï all day long. Five months later the Kashmir was sold for scrapping and towed to India. Soots, residual liquids, melted materials, released asbestos and PCB, dioxins, the working conditions are particularly dangerous for labourers while breaking up damaged ships.
