Shipwreck of an aircraft carrier in the United States
The 17th of May 2006, the US Navy will sink 27,000 tons of metal valued at 9.7 million US dollars* with the force of 24 charges of explosives. The Oriskany’s immersion constitutes the first stage of a program, created by the American administration in 2004, specifically designed for the underwater re-usage of surface ships as artificial reefs. This initial venture will take place in the Gulf of Mexico whose waters have been historically contaminated by hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and PCBs and more recently plagued by the effluents of Hurricane Katrina’s natural and industrial disaster in 2005. The hull of the ex-Oriskany contains more than 350 kg of residual PCBs as well as asbestos and toxic paint. Regional dive clubs welcome this ecological disaster. In the long run, the fish attracted by this new trash heap will be subjected to a toxicological follow-up determining whether or not they are harmless in the event of consumption by divers.
Shipwreck of an aircraft carrier in the United States
The 17th of May 2006, the US Navy will sink 27,000 tons of metal valued at 9.7 million US dollars* with the force of 24 charges of explosives. The Oriskany’s immersion constitutes the first stage of a program, created by the American administration in 2004, specifically designed for the underwater re-usage of surface ships as artificial reefs. This initial venture will take place in the Gulf of Mexico whose waters have been historically contaminated by hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and PCBs and more recently plagued by the effluents of Hurricane Katrina’s natural and industrial disaster in 2005. The hull of the ex-Oriskany contains more than 350 kg of residual PCBs as well as asbestos and toxic paint. Regional dive clubs welcome this ecological disaster. In the long run, the fish attracted by this new trash heap will be subjected to a toxicological follow-up determining whether or not they are harmless in the event of consumption by divers.
Another way of looking at the Clémenceau
The “Marine Nationale” French Navy is the first European ship owner to have started an asbestos cleaning process prior to the ship being scrapped. In 2005 in Europe dozens of ships, tankers, liners, chemical cargo boats left Europe to be dismantled in Asia and in Turkey without any prior treatment.
The work which was carried out on the Clémenceau represents the first step towards better working conditions for shipbreaking. At the end of her working life the Clémenceau contained about 1.000 tons of asbestos. Today she still holds about 100 tons. The asbestos was disposed of in officially licensed waste disposal sites.
In Europe today there is no shipbreaking yard or at least a grounding beach available to dismantle large ships. The only work site in Europe which claims to have the capacity and to be equipped is the British Port, Hartlepool. The old US Navy freight ships bound for scrapping towed to this site provoked an uproar from the environmentalists. Notwithstanding these positions, Robin des Bois has since seen a hope for ships at the end of their life. In Amsterdam an experimental work site for the dismantling of medium sized ships is being tested. France has done nothing.
The asbestos pre-cleaning process of the Clémenceau is positive. It is essential not to underestimate its importance, on the contrary, we have to stress that all the European ship owners should do the like wise.
There is nowhere available in France to completely dismantle nor to thoroughly clean the Clémenceau, in the short term.
If there is no solution found to recycle the Clémenceau, it might be sunk in the Mediterranean Sea for military purposes. This is the worst case scenario, which some nostalgics might dream of.
