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I'm mystified by a few things in this article. Specifically, why are scrapyards closing? The first thing the article names as a cause is the currently low pric
by cjensen 11y ago
I'm mystified by a few things in this article. Specifically, why are scrapyards closing?
The first thing the article names as a cause is the currently low price of scrap steel. Ok, but then what happens when a ship gets too old to use if not scrapped?
Another cause named in the article is new EU rules for EU flagged vessels. Couldn't the owners just reflag to a non-EU country prior to scrapping?
- steve19 11y ago> Ok, but then what happens when a ship gets too old to use if not scrapped? The old fashioned way is to scuttle a ship. I would guess that scuttling a ship so that it descends into a deep sea trench would have minimal environmental impact. Any toxins would be contained by the immense pressure.
- vacri 11y agoScuttling a ship doesn't get you the millions of dollars that you get from selling it to a scrapyard.
- jessaustin 11y agoThe scrapyards that have gone out of business aren't paying that. Their competitors, finding themselves in a more monopsonistic situation, might not be either.
- vacri 11y agoI misread the article, where it says at the moment ship owners are getting $3.6M less than they used to. I thought it said that that was what they were getting.
- nl 11y agoI would guess that scuttling a ship so that it descends into a deep sea trench would have minimal environmental impact. Any toxins would be contained by the immense pressure. No, that's not how it works. Any vessel unable to withstand the extreme pressure will rupture, and then anything contained within it will move to the point dictated by its density.
- ghshephard 11y agoScuttling has ceased by the US federal government because of the environmental impact: http://www.ban.org/2012/09/06/u-s-government-ends-the-sinking-of-old-shipsas-artificial-reefs/ http://www.ban.org/2012/09/06/u-s-government-ends-the-sinkin...