“Shipbreaking” # 39
– A 46 km long convoy left to be broken up in January /February/March 2015 (compared to 38 km in the last quarter of 2014).
– Kuito, the radioactive mammoth beached for demolition in Aliaga, Turkey, is raising concerns (p. 60). The oil industry is exposed to enhanced naturally occurring radioactivity. Crude oil has a high content of radium. Radium scales concentrate in pumps, pipes and tanks upstream of the refining process. Their concentrations may reach up to 15.000 Bq/gr. They are long-lived radioactive waste. The dismantling of a FPSO unit expose the shipbreaking yards workers to internal and external contaminations. The Turkish nuclear safety authority is on its guard.
The Cruising industry Hits the Wall
Costa Concordia – Press release # 5
The refloating of the Costa Concordia should have taken place at the end of 2012, followed by its removal to a port of demolition (or to a submarine graveyard?) in January of 2013. The work of the Italian-American consortium between Titan Salvage and Micoperi was estimated at a cost of 300 million US$. Complications arose with the project and both the time and budget were drawn out. The unforeseen hardness of the undersea granite slows down the setting up of the platform needed to remove the ship. The workers and the Italian authorities are now looking at retrieval in 2014. In the meantime, the wreck on the rocks experiences the pressure of the sea on its exterior and the one of 100,000 tons of polluted water on its interior. The risk of the ship dislodging is increasing. Should the removal of the ship take place according to plan, two key points demand clarification: 1. The methods of treating the water and waste on the interior of the wreck, and 2. The destination of the wreck. Italy has not displayed the ability to properly dismantle ships. The Costa Allegra was sent to the junk-yard in Turkey (1). The transport ferry Repubblica di Amalfi from Grimaldi Lines is still awaiting demolition in India. Thirty-seven ships belonging to Italian companies such as Ignazio Messina, Stradeblu, BM Shipping and SNAV headed for the junk-yard in 2012. Not a single one was demolished in Italy: 19 went to India, 10 to Turkey and 7 to Bangladesh.
“Shipbreaking”: An editorial success by Robin des Bois
The 29th publication of Ship-breaking.com is available (64 pages – 5,2 Mo)
This quarterly publication is an information bulletin and analysis on the demolition of vessels, Ship-breaking.com is read by thousands of specialists across the globe. The letters to the editor section point to the fact that the international public of Ship-breaking.com increases year after year.
The first edition of Ship-breaking.com was published in February 2006 in order for Robin des Bois to better understand the lifecycle of commercial ships and military vessels following the Clemenceau aircraft carrier affair. On this subject Ship-breaking.com has shown that exporting military vessels to Asia for demolition seems to be fixed in stone. Ship-breaking.com n°29 underlines this with the examples of the Russian cruiser Murmansk and the British frigate HMS Plymouth.
Fessenheim : To be shut down or not ?
In any event, an immediate decision on the closure or continued operation of the nuclear center in Fessenheim is imperative. Fessenheim does not make tea. Operators and contractors are responsible for handling of radioactive fuel and monitoring of nuclear fission. The staff has been under pressure for a year now, which is absolutely inconsistent with the serenity and concentration required when working at a nuclear plant. Prolonging the uncertainty is irresponsible of the government.
The handling, storing, and transport of hydrogen peroxide leads to many accidents and releases of exothermic vapors that have could potentially cause burns to employees and first-aid attendants every year. Such accidents occur in paper mills, agribusiness, and water purification centers.
All In Asia
56 pages of informations, destinations, stories and histories, pictures, on the demolition of ships around the world from January 1st to May 6th.
Of 362 ships sent to demolition during the first 4 months of the year, 332 were sent to Asia; 123 belonging to European ship owners and 134 were built in Europe.
Despite the poor working conditions, the devastated environment, and many hazardous wastes, the shipping world continued as usual to leave their discarded hulls on the Asian beaches.
