SHIP DEMOLITION

SeaFrance, subsidiary of the SNCF (french national railroad company), sold the two car ferries SeaFrance Cezanne and SeaFrance Renoir in the Port of Dunkirk this summer. They were sold to two Panamanian companies who then immediately replaced the French flag with that of Belize.

The Cezanne and Renoir were decommissioned in February and September 2009 respectively. The Renoir, renamed Eastern Light, now sits off the Bay of Alang waiting for authorization to be beached and dismantled.

This tragic and particularly hypocritical outcome was instigated by a French shipowner of which the state owns 100%.

Discover the awful story of Canadian Miner. A ship sent to Turkey for demolition Turkey and then ran aground off Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. Plus, the Iraqi Al-Zahraa, Saddam Hussein’s tank carrier locked down for 21 years at Bremerhaven, was sent Lithuania for demolition. Learn about Monte Stello, a Corsican car ferry, pronounced defunct after running a shore in Sardinia on January 1, 1994. It then resurrected in Norway, resold in New Zealand and destroyed in China. Read about Zoé, a Greek cruise ship, that never sailed and was sent for demolition in Turkey. Count the old petroleum tankers who head to Pakistan’s beaches, escort by the perpetual movement of boats that head to destinations far away. Follow Probo Koala step by step.

49 pages of information on the demolition of ships around the world.

Some excerpts:

– 65 years following the nuclear weapons tests the wrecks from the Bikini Atoll are to be broken up.

– An exclusive report on the incredible end of the Probo family including the Probo Koala responsible for the tragedy in Abidjan precisely 5 years ago.

– The killer asbestos in the top 4 demolition countries.

– The demolition market trends from May to July 2011.

– Are French ship owners taking responsibilities? The scrapping of the Renoir and the Cezanne in Dunkirk and the Tellier in Le Havre.

According to the Northwest Evening Mail, the Pacific Sandpiper is to be demolished in Belgium. The Pacific Sandpiper belongs to the English ship company, Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd (PNTL), and was launched in 1985. She measures 104 meters long with a light weight of 3,950 tons. This floating nuclear waste, the Pacific Sandpiper, transported a total of 500 radioactive spent fuel containers throughout her career. These shipments were operated within the scope of reprocessing contracts with the Japanese electricity producing companies TEPCO and Kansaï, from Japan to France for Cogema-AREVA and from Japan to the UK for BNFL (British Nuclear Fuels Limited). In January 2004, the ship also transported vitrified nuclear waste, which originated from the AREVA factory in La Hague, (France) between Cherbourg and Japan.

The Gulf Jash, ex- Probo Koala, is anchored in Halong Bay, Vietnam. Today, June 3rd GMS, U.S. based ship broker, denies ownership of the ship. Under this hypothesis, it is for Dubai based Gulf Navigation, owner of the ex- Probo Koala since 2006, to clarify the conditions of the sale and the destination of the vessel.

In accordance with Robin des Bois’ (“Robin Hood” international association based in Paris) press release published May 17th 2011, the Equasis database displays, since May 31st that the Gulf Jash ex-Probo Koala, the Gulf Ahmadi ex-Probo Bison and the Gulf Shagra ex-Probo Panda are indeed “to be broken up”.

Warned by Robin des Bois as early as May 17th 2011 of the Probo Koala’s imminent arrival to be beached for demolition (1), Bangladesh authorities, through its Ministry of Environment & Forest have just closed access to the demolition shipyard to this ship whose last known name was Gulf Jash, IMO number 8309816. This is the first time a ship destined to demolition is turned away from Bangladesh waters. The decision is justified by the history of this tanker and the particularly toxic residue still possibly on board. The list of these substances and a draft of the ship can be found here.

The number 23 of « Ship-breaking.com », information and analysis bulletin on the demolition of ships is available.

56 pages of informations, destinations, stories and histories, pictures, on the demolition of ships around the world from January 1^st to May 6^th.

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.

The Probo Koala vessel which spread death and panic in Abidjan during the summer of 2006 has just been sold by her last owner to a demolisher in Bangladesh for $ 7.7 million. Currently off the coast of China, she should be beached in Chittagong under the name of Gulf Jash within the next few days. The Greek owner had in fact sold the Probo Koala to Gulf Navigation based in Dubai.

Built in 1989, at Korean Shipbuilding & Engineering shipyards, the Probo Koala was used by the multinational company Trafigura to produce low-grade gasoline from highly sulphurised oil off the coast of Gibraltar and Malta. The toxic residue produced by these onboard refinery operations was unloaded in August 2006 at the Abidjan port. Scattered around the Ivory Coast economic capital, the residue containing hydrogen sulphide and mercaptans caused the death of 17 people and intoxicated over one hundred thousand others, according to the official figures.

The 22nd Ship-breaking.com bulletin of information and analysis on the demolition of ships is available.

Among the key elements: the global statement 2010 of vessels sent to demolition and their destinations, the Italian LPG carrier Azzurra laid up in Peru, piracy and demolition in Somalia, the departure for scrapping of the ferry Senlac built by the Arsenal of Brest, the “scuttling” of the French ship demolition industry by a French parliamentary report, the situation in Bangladesh and the hilarious story of a whaler in the Antarctic launched in 1939 and withdrawn from the seas late 2010.

The quarterly bulletin by Robin des Bois containing information and analysis on the demolition of ships, is about to be published.

– Bangladesh is seasick (p 1).

– Brutal demolition in Africa, ships flying the Togo flag for their last voyage (p 3).

– Turkey scraps old ships in the Mediterranean (p 4).

– A unique (hopefully) barratry brought to light thanks to bulletin #20 of shipbreaking.com (p 5).

– A supply oil ship of the Japanese whaling fleet goes to be dismantled in India (p14).