Decommissioning A Cargo Ship

[menzies]

Interesting looking place. Kishorn Dry Dock in Scotland.

 

[ScottC]

Fascinating video! Fascinating dry dock!!

 

[JLD]

Very interesting video. I wonder how long it took for the scrapping of the ship?

By far, that was one of the coolest dry docks I've ever seen.

Thanks for sharing,

Jim

 

[O C Diver]

Wonder what the time and cost is to do a ship?

And then there's the alternative:

Ted

 

[ScottC]

Hmmm...how should this thread evolve? Ship scrapping & recycling? Unusual dry docks? Other?

I will try unusual dry docks.

Below are a few pictures from the Kockums shipyard area in Malmö, Sweden.
The first pictures are of a large, typical (I guess) dry dock during its operating years, when the business was still alive. They built military, commercial and passenger/cruise ships in this dock. The late 90’s witnessed the start of a grand transformation of the dry dock area into a condo/apartment/office area.

Today, the former dry dock is my home port marina.

The gantry crane (largest in the world at that time) has an interesting history of its own. You can read more about it here: Gantry Crane: The End of Kockums Crane

 

[ScottC]

Wonder what the time and cost is to do a ship?
Ted

Also, a fascinating video, Ted. Looks like the scrapping process entails far more dangerous work than the building process.

 

[O C Diver]

Also, a fascinating video, Ted. Looks like the scrapping process entails far more dangerous work than the building process.

I think the environmental impact of the 3rd world ship breakers on the ocean and land, has to be mind numbing.

Ted

 

[menzies]

More info here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Kishorn

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-46863248

 

[ScottC]

I think the environmental impact of the 3rd world ship breakers on the ocean and land, has to be mind numbing.

Ted

Agreed!
I also found myself wondering, as I watched the Scotland video, if the scrapping of the ship cost as much or more than the ship cost to build 30+ years ago. Probably not...but it still looks like a very expensive operation.

 

[Swfla]

Developers make lovely condos from warehouses. Maybe there's a way to apply this to old ships. LOL.

 

[menzies]

Agreed!
I also found myself wondering, as I watched the Scotland video, if the scrapping of the ship cost as much or more than the ship cost to build 30+ years ago. Probably not...but it still looks like a very expensive operation.

From the story I read this ship ran aground off Scotland. So I'm guessing being able to scrap it right there avoided a ton of cost.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. SC. You also might mention the most famous dry dock in Sweden (IMO). The one housing the WASA (VASA).


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)

MOST impressive.

 

[ScottC]

Greetings,
Mr. SC. You also might mention the most famous dry dock in Sweden (IMO). The one housing the WASA (VASA).
MOST impressive.

Agree. That one is very special indeed!!
I've pasted an exterior view of the structure built around the ship. It's just to the left of the marina we stayed at back in 2012.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Developers make lovely condos from warehouses. Maybe there's a way to apply this to old ships. LOL.

It's been done. Queen Mary Hotel.

 

[ancora]

I think the environmental impact of the 3rd world ship breakers on the ocean and land, has to be mind numbing.

Ted

My son, a chief engineer in the Merchant Marine, was on board three ships that were driven up on a beach in Bangladesh for breaking up. The crew can only take personal effects when they leave the ship. The Indians that run the "yard" are not concerned about worker safety nor the environment. Cheap labor is readily available and there are no environmental rules to follow.

 

[Jeff F]

I read this recently... Interesting to see the small industries that have sprung up around the ship scrapping in India.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/alang-shipyard-market

 

[JLD]

Greetings,
Mr. SC. You also might mention the most famous dry dock in Sweden (IMO). The one housing the WASA (VASA).


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)

MOST impressive.

The Vasa is definitely a marine treasure.

I was fortunate to spend an afternoon in the museum 7 or 8 years ago. It's astounding that this ship is almost 400 years old and that 95% of this ship is the original wood!

Jim

 

[Lepke]

The ship in the scrapping video was small and probably just operated in Europe. Common bulk carriers run 50 to 70,000 tons. The ship in the video was probably about 20,000. Scrappers in South Asia usually buy those ships for a million on up. The bigger the ship, the more steel. I've seen scrapped ships go for 5 million. In India, much of the steel is reused, the furnishings are sold, and machinery is adapted to industrial uses. They make a profit. The engineroom is the most valuable area and damaged ships with flooded enginerooms go for the least money.
The US Navy pays to have it's warships scrapped. 30 years ago they were sold by bidding, later they were sold for $1, and now we pay.
Currently many cruise ships are being marketed for scrapping.

 

[ghostrider454]

Wonder what the time and cost is to do a ship?

And then there's the alternative:

Ted

About $250,000. I towed a fishing vessel from Sea of Japan to Bangladesh ship breakers. It had been contaminated from Fukushima incident. From the time the ship arrived until it was done took about a month.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Nice and neat, showing tremendous respect for the environment. All I can do is wait and pray for the day we see a few Cruise Ships drydocked there.

pete

 

[lwarden]

ScottC. Is that the same marina in Sweden the YouTube Ran sailing couple has/had their boat at? I didn't realize it was a old dry dock.

 

[La Mer]

Interesting looking place. Kishorn Dry Dock in Scotland.

Super interesting video. Thanks.

 

[La Mer]

Former flagship of the Holland-America Line, ocean liner and cruise ship SS Rotterdam, also known as "The Grande Dame", is now a floating hotel in Rotterdam.

 

[ScottC]

ScottC. Is that the same marina in Sweden the YouTube Ran sailing couple has/had their boat at? I didn't realize it was a old dry dock.

Yes. The very same marina! It's called "Dockan" marina.
https://www.dockanmarina.se/en/

 

[ghostrider454]

Nice and neat, showing tremendous respect for the environment. All I can do is wait and pray for the day we see a few Cruise Ships drydocked there. pete

As far as I am aware only one Carnival ship is there now.

 

[dennismenace111]

Kind of sad to watch.

 

[moparharn]

The Scotland video was interesting and the far east video sad and disgusting. The Scotland video looked like little insects or ants feeding on a carcass. In the end the pieces are loaded into a "boat hearse" and hauled away. One death a week and one injury per day in the far east sounds like a gross understatement to me. The workers that survive will only die later from what they did there. Gods knows what the toll on the environment is. I know they need jobs, but these ship owners bear the responsibility of ensuring their property is disposed of properly. It is their business that drives the production and destruction of their means of production (nice rhyme eh). They own this mess. It is their responsibility to commission the proper building and disassembly of their ships.
Bill