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Absolutely beautiful read about the life cycle of capitalism and beautiful machines, thanks for posting it! > I asked him if it ever seemed a pity to break up

Absolutely beautiful read about the life cycle of capitalism and beautiful machines, thanks for posting it! > I asked him if it ever seemed a pity to break up such monumental and characterful structures. Did he look at Winner in the way that I had come to look at her, in the way her former crew looked at her, as something dignified? Sari said the only emotion he could feel about Winner was relief, when she was gone, on schedule. But not long ago, he acknowledged, he had had a wobble. It was over those two young Ensco rigs – Ensco 6003 and 6004 – that had come out of Brazilian waters. When Sari won the right to scrap them, he took the unusual decision to sail the rigs under their own power from South America to Turkey. “I piloted one myself, for the last mile to Aliaga. I wanted to try it out.” Sari mimed adjusting thrusters, striking buttons. “Everything was like new, all the controls.” They demolished Ensco 6003 and 6004 over the course of about 10 weeks. “Beautiful machines. Beautiful machines,” Sari said. Afterwards, To get a better appreciation of how dangerous the job of ship breaking actually is, I looked for some videos. "Scrapped: Chittagong Cutters" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fqrRhqv0Iw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fqrRhqv0Iw "The Ship Breakers" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdYK2vb6McE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdYK2vb6McE

zhte415 10y ago
A couple of oil rigs recently sailed past my office a few months ago. On a small break in the park grounds checking how the magpie nest was doing with some colleagues we saw them sneak past. We were all surprised how fast they went. Not fast fast, but in the space of 10 minutes, or so, could clear several hundred meters; the visual comprehension that something we know can move but should not, is. A contradiction of logic and intuition.
- Declanomous 10y ago
  My parents used to own a small condo on a small shipping channel on Lake Michigan. The scale of ships is incredible. There is nothing quite like standing on the fourth floor of a building, and looking at something that is much larger than the building you are in navigating a narrow curve in a river without assistance. I've lived in Chicago for my entire life, and I often think about how amazing it is that we as people have constructed things as large as skyscrapers and highways. But oceangoing vessels can be just as large, and they move.

zhte415 10y ago

A couple of oil rigs recently sailed past my office a few months ago. On a small break in the park grounds checking how the magpie nest was doing with some colleagues we saw them sneak past. We were all surprised how fast they went. Not fast fast, but in the space of 10 minutes, or so, could clear several hundred meters; the visual comprehension that something we know can move but should not, is. A contradiction of logic and intuition.

Declanomous 10y ago
My parents used to own a small condo on a small shipping channel on Lake Michigan. The scale of ships is incredible. There is nothing quite like standing on the fourth floor of a building, and looking at something that is much larger than the building you are in navigating a narrow curve in a river without assistance. I've lived in Chicago for my entire life, and I often think about how amazing it is that we as people have constructed things as large as skyscrapers and highways. But oceangoing vessels can be just as large, and they move.