Shipscrapping: Worse than Clemenceau
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.