SHIP DEMOLITION

Only in French.

Press Release #6

Tomorrow, at any point during the hours-long raising of the wreckage, the cruise ship containing 50,000 tons of scrap, waste, and polluted water could split open like an old, cracked bathtub. While the Costa Concordia is now in a relatively confined area, tomorrow this dump could be spread out over the Island of Giglio, and the Mediterranean sea. The only reassuring thing is that the wreck has been drained of its propulsion fuel. For the past 19 months, the hull of the Costa Concordia has been subject to the corrosion caused by waves and offshore currents. Therefore, there is a pressing risk of pollutant dispersal.

Despite rumors praising safety in the shipbreaking yards of Turkey, work conditions there are still bad. Two workers intoxicated in the machine rooms of the ex-Pacific Princess have just payed for those conditions with their lifes.

The ex-Love Boat from the television series of the same name was sold to a turkish demolition yard in april 2012 for the price of $260 per ton. The Pacific Princess was evaluated at 8.000 tons. The buyer took over a year to finish paying. The ex-Pacific Princess left the Genoa Harbor on July 27th 2013 towed by the Izmir Bull under the name Acif. It had arrived in Genoa in november 2008 for renovation and technical compliance, but such work was soon abandoned. Built in 1971, the ship holds large quantities of asbestos ans PCBs. Its last known owner is the Quail Cruises Ship Management based in Madrid.

The 32nd bulletin of information and analysis on Ship-breaking is published (75 pages). It covers the month of May, June and July 2013. In 8 years, the ship-breaking bulletin has become a reference in this field across the globe. Information and photographs are sent to Robin des Bois by regular or occasional correspondents.

Over the last three months, 271 ships have been sent to demolition. They total over 2.2 million tonnes of metal. 106 (39%) were built in Europe, 88 (32%) belonged to European owners, 241 (89%) were sent to Asia.

Bulletin of information and analysis on ship demolition

Europe is sending illegally more and more vessels to be broken up in Asia. She is not the only one doing this way.

In this edition :

– Overview January 1 to April 30, 2013

– MSC Flaminia

– Baco-Liner

– Marseille, the waiting room for scrapping in Asia

– The scandalous export of the Lyubov Orlova

– Welcome to Chennai Port, the Nightmare before Scrapping

– Letters to the Editor

– France Telecom cable layer Chamarel

The Atlantic Star remained disused in Marseille for more than 2 years. Construction of the Atlantic Star at La Seyne-sur-Mer in 1984 had mobilized, as in all cruise ships, significant amounts of asbestos.

The ship belonged to the Spanish shipowner Pullmantur, a subsidiary of the American company Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. Her operation became prohibitive; replacing her steam turbines with a diesel propulsion was impossible. The Atlantic Star, still in the hands of Spanish interests, remained under the European flag of Malta until March 1, 2013.

In 2013, when the former Atlantic Star, renamed Antic, leaves Marseille for demolition at Alang without asbestos removal, silence reigns.

In 2006, when the former Clemenceau, renamed hull Q790, went to Alang for demolition after a partial asbestos removal in France, a politically correct, unanimous roar rang out.

The Atlantic Star is a 240m-long ship built in 1984 in the shipyards of La Seyne-sur-Mer in France, an asbestos stronghold. It was abandoned in Marseille in 2010. The Atlantic Star belonged to the Spanish subsidiary of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL).

The ship was docked along the main jetty of the port of Marseille. Since September 2010, she imposed herself as a five-star squatter while, despite her silhouette and red chimney, she tried to blend in and make believe that her port of call was temporary.

Initially her stopover in Marseille was technical. There was talk of replacing steam turbines with diesel engines. From technical, the stopover quickly became economical. There is no future for a ship built 30 years ago without considerable expense and a regulatory upgrade.

Lyubov Orlova – Press release # 5

According to the Rescue Coordination Center at Halifax in Canada, the Lyubov Orlova’s emergency beacon went off during the night of Saturday February 23rd. The most likely hypothesis would be that the Lyubov Orlova has sunk. The emergency beacon was either installed on the cruise ship or on one of the lifeboats onboard. It went off at 51°46.00 N and 35°41.00W i.e.: 1,700km (1,000 nm) from the European coastline which is to say closer than the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency reported on February 21st.

Lyubov Orlova – Press release # 4

If the latest news transmitted by the US maritime information services are confirmed, the Lyubov Orlova is closer to the American shores than the European ones.

Consequently, Robin des Bois asks Canada to initiate and finance all operational means in order to recapture the vessel and bring her back in a place of refuge. Thereafter, Canada, where the Lyubov Orlova had been seized in September 2010 and later on abandoned, should propose a new dismantling plan, different from the initial one. Scrapping the Lyubov Orlova in a unreliable ship-breaking yard in the Dominican Republic would be an additional scandal indeed.