- Robin des Bois - https://robindesbois.org/en -

TK Bremen: Robin Des Bois draws out a prefectural mandate on emergency conservation efforts.

Following the Robin des Bois press conference this morning at 10:00 AM at Brest, the prefecture of Morbihan made public on their website at 2:34 PM the prefectural mandate regarding emergency conservation efforts surrounding the worksite for the deconstruction of the cargo ship TK Bremen. The recipient of this prefectural mandate is the ship owner, Blue Atlantic Shipping, ltd. based in Malta.

Robin des Bois estimates that the emergency conditions invoked by the prefecture are intended to precipitate work upon the demolition of the TK Bremen, to know the fragility of the hull, are not one in the same. If there is an emergency, it is to erase as fast as possible the traces of errors made at the time of the casting off of the ship and its navigation in the afternoon of December 15, 2011 and the night of the 16th.

The deconstruction, such that it is, is surrounded by the nomenclature of rubric 2712 from the Classified Facilities for the Protection of the Environment planning a preliminary map of toxic materials incorporated into the hull at the moment of its construction and of toxic materials stemming from the 30 years of operation of the ship. For example, as a cargo ship transporting agricultural products in bulk, the TK Bremen sustained multiple fumigations and it is probable that pesticide residue was concentrated on the walls and in the bottom of the hold. Only this preliminary map and numerous samples are needed from the different parts of the ship to permit the separation at the source of the contaminated material.

In addition, the prefectural mandate dating from December 26, 2011 confirms the potential presence of toxic materials ranging from lead paint to asbestos, to tributyltin and other toxic materials that Robin des Bois evoked in its communiqué from December 21, 2011 recapitulating all of the deficiencies of the TK Bremen.

The demolition work, not of deconstruction, began even before this indispensable inventory to control the work site was taken, with knowledge of the environmental and health risks being taken, even though the means to their prevention were known. In this sense, the Erdeven site resembles that of the Bay of Alang.