March 1, 2018

Only Two Major Ferries Scrapped In The Last Quarter Of 2017

The French environmental organisation Robin des Bois (‘Robin Hood’) has published its 50th quarterly shipbreaking report. Since the start of the publications in 2006, more than 10,000 scrapped ships have been reported.
Some trends:

  • Overall, the tonnage of vessels demolished in the last quarter of 2017 shows a drop by 29%.
  • The Chinese Government has identified ship breaking as a major pollution risk. The end of the year was marked by the suspension of operating licenses for all but 2 or 3 facilities in Xinhui and near Shanghai. As a result, the tonnage of dismantled vessels fell sharply in China.
  • The Top 4 of recycled tonnage consists of 1) India, 2) Bangladesh, 3) Pakistan, 4) Turkey.

Only two well-known ferries have been reported as scrapped:

  • OLYMPUS (ROPAX 2, LÜBECK LINK, FINNROSE) was beached in Alang in late November. (see page 81)
  • MED STAR (LA PAZ STAR, STRADA CORSA, STENA TRANSPORTER, FLANDERS, PRIDE OF FLANDERS, NORDIC FERRY, MERZARIO HISPANIA, MERZARIO ESPANIA). On her way from Rhodes to Santorini, a fire broke out in the engine room in June 2017. She was beached for demolition in Aliaga on December 8. (see page 86)

Photo: P&O Ferries’ PRIDE OF FLANDERS in 1995 ©Mike Louagie