Scrapping News

“In 2023, only seven product tankers with combined deadweight tonnes (DWT) capacity of 265,000 were recycled. This was a year-on-year drop of 82% compared to 1.5 million DWT (27 product tankers) recycled in 2022. It was also the lowest level of recycling seen since records began in 1996,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.Strong earnings and second-hand values, as well as a reduction in newbuilding deliveries, have likely contributed to the very low level of…

Several large LDT sales have taken place this week, as owners dip in to take advantage of the red hot sub-continent markets of the moment.Almost all of the locations saw some activity this week (market and private), with India even getting in on the act (despite being the lowest placed sub-continent market) with one high-priced stainless-steel tanker purchase registering for the week.With abysmal rates persisting across the sector, VLCCs and FSUs seem to be the types of units mostly in the firing line at present, whilst dry bulk and containers continue to soar.

A Bangladeshi woman whose husband died dismantling an oil tanker in a local shipyard was given the green light this week to keep pursuing a claim for compensation from a UK company linked to the vessel in a test case for the shipbreaking industry.Britain’s Court of Appeal threw out a request by London-based shipbroker Maran (UK) Ltd for the negligence case to be dismissed, the second appeal the company has lost.Hamida Begum’s husband, Khalil Mollah, 32, fell to his death in 2018 while breaking up the tanker Ekta in the Bangladesh port of Chattogram…

The U.S. Navy has begun the process to remove the island from the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) as part of an ongoing inactivation availability for the warship that was destroyed by a major fire in 2020.Salvage contractor Smit Americas started the removal process Tuesday, the Navy said. Workers will reduce the island's height down to just above the flight deck to improve the ship’s structural integrity and readiness for tow.The Navy announced at the end of 2020 it would scrap the…

The coronavirus pandemic has slowed efforts to make safer the often hazardous job of dismantling old ships in Bangladesh, officials said, following the latest worker fatality.COVID-19 temporarily shuttered ship-breaking yards in Bangladesh, one of the world’s main destinations for end-of-life vessels, delaying safety reforms ahead of a 2023 deadline.Almost all of the 70 active yards in Bangladesh have submitted Ship Recycling Facility Plans since 2019, according to the Ministry…

The U.S. Navy announced it will scrap the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), forgoing repairs to the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship that was ravaged by a major fire in San Diego in July."We did not come to this decision lightly," said Secretary of the Navy Kenneth J. Braithwaite. "Following an extensive material assessment in which various courses of action were considered and evaluated, we came to the conclusion that it is not fiscally responsible to restore her."Although it saddens me that it is not cost effective to bring her back…

Shipbreaking is among the most dangerous jobs in the world, according to the International Labor Organization. This is the process of breaking up huge old ships into spare parts. It almost always happens in developing countries and comes with an unacceptably high level of fatalities, injuries and work-related diseases.In November 2016, 17 people were killed in a series of explosions on an oil tanker at a shipbreaking yard in Gadani, Pakistan. In 2019 alone, it was reported that 26 shipbreakers died in Bangladesh.

A Bangladeshi woman whose husband died while dismantling an oil tanker at a shipbreaking yard in 2018 can file a negligence claim against a British company involved in the vessel’s sale, London’s High Court ruled this week.Khalil Mollah, 32, fell to his death while working on a tanker called the EKTA in the port city of Chattogram in southeastern Bangladesh, where scores of end-of-life ships are sent to be scrapped each year.British lawyers representing his widow, Hamida Begum, took her case to court in April 2019, arguing that Maran (UK) Ltd was responsible for the ship ending up in Banglades

MV Kaami, a general cargo vessel salvaged six miles off the northwest coast of Skye, Scotland after running aground in March, has been dismantled and recycled in Kishorn.Built in 1994, the 89.8-meter vessel, owned by Norway’s Misje Rederi, was sailing under the flag of Bahamas when it ran aground on March 23 this year. It was refloated by Resolve Marine Group and towed to Kishorn Port and Dry Dock on the northwest coast of Scotland.Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has invested more than £700…

Engineering X – an international collaboration founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and Lloyd’s Register Foundation – has awarded nearly £1 million ($1.2 million) in grants to six projects in the U.K. and overseas aimed at tackling the complex social, environmental and engineering challenges of decommissioning ships and offshore structures.From training to improve worker safety in ship recycling facilities in Bangladesh, to assessing the risks of structural failure of decommissioned offshore structures…

Classification society DNV GL launched a new guidance on vessel recycling to help shipowners navigate a regulatory environment that is becoming increasingly complex.With the IMO Hong Kong Convention not yet in force, strict enforcement of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EU SRR) and the EU Waste Shipment Regulation (EU WSR) means shipowners must carefully plan for the end of life of their vessels amid a much stricter and more complex set of international, regional and national requirements than in the past.

Converted very large ore carriers (VLOC) are increasingly becoming a thing of the past with the long-term freight contracts coming to an end as newer and more reliable ships replace them in the market. Since June 2017, 43% of the VLOC fleet have been sent to the scrapyards, while 18% of the fleet is idled or damaged.“The tragic Stellar Daisy accident brought the safety aspect of VLOCs into question. Now, three years on, three out of five VLOCs are no longer in operation as their long-term charters have now expired.

The coronavirus outbreak has affected all aspects of the shipping industry, lowering, if not wiping out, demand growth prospects for the year across all segments. The outbreak has also affected fleet development, says shipping association BIMCO.Contracting activity has fallen, demolition activity, which had been high, is now being limited by restrictions around the world and deliveries of new vessels are delayed.“The coronavirus has certainty replaced the IMO 2020 sulphur regulation as the talking point of the year.