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Rescue on to save liner, tug on course to Alang
Posted: Thursday , Oct 15, 2009 at 0223 hrs Rajkot:

Rescue operations to salvage the ghost passenger ship Platinum II and tug Barakhoda continued for the second day on Wednesday.

Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) officials maintained that the nine crewmembers on board the tug are safe. “Barakoda, which had maneuvered Platinum II, which was awaiting clearance for Alang for six days, is stuck due to an engine failure. A tug was sent to rescue the two vessels on Tuesday. It will be sent again to get Barakoda moving,” said Bhavnagar Port Officer P M Rathod.

He added, “Barakoda still needs some assistance for maneuvering.” Platinum II, which was on its way to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard at Bhavnagar, is in danger of sinking. As it is loaded with asbestos, it was awaiting clearance from the GPCB for beaching at Alang.

On Tuesday, after Barakoda broke down, the two vessels drifted towards Gopnath off the Tadaja coast, some 25 km from Alang. Meanwhile, the GMB said in a statement that it has not given permission to Platinum II to drop anchor at Alang without observing the procedures prescribed by the Supreme Court. “At present, Platinum II is off Gopnath, which is the outer anchorage point off Gopnath point,” the GMB statement said.

It said Platinum II will be given permission to beach at Alang only after the vessel gets clearance from the GPCB and the Customs Department following a physical inspection.

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Just because the plot that will receive the D/V Platinum II (N°14) is certified ISO 9001-2000, ISO 14001- in 2004 for environmental respect and 18001 OHSA in 2007 (OHSA= Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series.

Just have a look at:

http://www.hariyanagroup.com/shipdemolition.html

And they have a "Code of Conduct" firm and well established:

http://www.hariyanagroup.com/Code_of_Conduct_hsbl.doc (Word document format)

You can believe or not, but I'm working in the pharmaceutical industry and I know how an ISO compliance is given. And it's given the same way in India, in France or in US.

All my best,

At least on the paper, Alang is far better than it use to be. If I remember well, this plot was inspected by IMO delegation in early 2008 with plot 13 and 59 and pilot plot #2 and some others. But they drooped the famous V1 due to the lack of time. V1 was Blue Lady's plot ...

If S. Mehta is someone a little bit special, Priyablue is also certified for both ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and 18001 since 2004. On the paper, they are able to treat a vessel without damage to worker and environment. And they have done a very fast job on the poor Maxim M.

It's absolutely necessary to understand how a ship is recycled and to see "in real" sometimes his structure.

Photo taken Oct-16-2009 - Credit: PTI for the Hindu - All rights reserved

The article is there:

http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/21/stories/2009102156011100.htm

[ 10-20-2009: Message edited by: LenKinap ]

It could that, but it's only a rumor. I try to have a better definition of the photograph.

[ 10-21-2009: Message edited by: LenKinap ]

The Platinum II is a full dead vessel, without any viable machinery. If some pumps are working*, they are "external" but not the pumps from the former Indy.

I am surprised that the Topaz and Regal Empress of similar vintage and also full of asbestos, and PCB's went to the beach and were broken up with no fuss?

Do not dream, it's only noise. She will be scrapped at there because Alang needs such vessel to prove that - at some plots - the level of compliance with ISO standards is respected better than anywhere. Like for the Blue Lady, Platinim II is a showcase vessel.

But "BAN India" makes no or just a little noise when small RoRo, Ship Factories or Tanker, much more dangerous at their scale, are beached at the last "trash plots". At these plots, ISO is an unknown acronym ... But the D/V Platinum or the D/V Blue Lady are much more interesting for media even if they are recycled in much better condition for both environment and workers. That's all ...

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Originally posted by desirod7:
I am surprised that the Topaz and Regal Empress of similar vintage and also full of asbestos, and PCB's went to the beach and were broken up with no fuss?

Why are they picking on the Indy?

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American built ships were different I believe. Post World War II all the American passenger ships made a very heavy use of marinite wall boards (asbestos core) and it is all still aboard the Indy. Further Indy's engine room at least into the 1990s was heavily laden with asbestos insulation and AHC had been very careful to work around it so as not to have to remove it at high costs.

I don't know about Regal Empress and Topaz but I suspect they used less asbestos board in their construction .... plus neither of them had the issue of the fines the Oceanic ex. Indy incurred when she was towed out of San Francisco.

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Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:
American built ships were different I believe. Post World War II all the American passenger ships made a very heavy use of marinite wall boards (asbestos core) and it is all still aboard the Indy.

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Originally posted by mike sa:
The big difference is probably that she was "American" owned (although technically she wasn't) and it is perceived by some as the big US dumping their problems in the 3rd world ?

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It could be a part of the problem. IMHO, the problem came from environmental platform that put the projector on some vessel. National Government has signed the Basel convention ans should respect the signature. GMB (Gujarat Maritime Board) must "adapt" the convention to give work to Alang's plots.

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Originally posted by mike sa:
The big difference is probably that she was "American" owned (although technically she wasn't) and it is perceived by some as the big US dumping their problems in the 3rd world ?

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As far as dead ships go, I doubt it. In fact, Al Gore put a halt to the transport of toxic MARAD ghost fleet ships to developing countries such as India or Bangladesh for scrapping back in the '90s. The only MARAD ships let out of the country after that point were largely sent to Teeside, but in general they're supposed to be sold off to US breakers who are certified for asbestos abatement.

There was a brief period over a year ago when Esco Marine, out of Brownsville, TX, was able to make money doing this on a few ships. However, by and large the unfortunate unintended consequence is that now we have a bunch of ships rotting on the James River and in Suisun Bay, leeching heavy metals and bunker C into two environmentally sensitive estuaries, causing public health concerns.

This makes up the bulk of our older vessels, since the vast majority of US-run passenger vessels are registered elsewhere to evade the Jones Act.

Since the US isn't party to the Basel Convention, there was nothing stopping anyone fom removing a toxic non-US-flagged ship from US waters.

I think all the angst over this one particular ship is simply spillover from angst over that one large pretty blue ship, a certain shipping line that owned both this ship and that ship, and the proximity of time between the demise of both ships. Ironically, it's my understanding Indy was a MARAD ship before NCL got a hold of her. Had NCL left her alone, she'd probably be rusting away in Suisun Bay right now.

[ 10-23-2009: Message edited by: Lubber ]

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Originally posted by dougnewman:
I think that goes for pretty much all old Method I ships, really.

(Of course THE TOPAZ and REGAL EMPRESS were Method II ships.)

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Doug -