The NGO Shipbreaking Platform says that during the last few months the more and more oil platforms, drill ships and other vessels related to the oil industry have arrived for demolition on the beaches of South Asia as well as in Turkey and China.
The Platform calls on the large oil and gas companies – such as BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Petrobras, Total, and Chevron – to ensure that their business partners, that is, companies specialized in drill ships, companies leasing oil platforms, as well as tanker companies, commit to clean and safe recycling off the beach.
There are a variety of platforms and vessels that function in the offshore oil industry, but the ones that the Platform most concerned with are those that can move on their own. Fixed platforms and compliant towers are attached to the ocean floor with giant submerged steel or concrete towers and are not transported around the world for demolition.
However, semi-submersible platforms, drill ships, and floating production systems (FPSO – Floating Production, Storage and Offloading System) move on their own and are likely to end up on the shipbreaking beaches of South Asia.
Last year, the Platform documented the decommissioning of a total of 24 vessels related to the oil and gas industry (13 drill platforms, 1 drill ship, 8 FPSOs and 2 semi-submersibles). Out of the 24, the majority were sold to yards in Aliaga, Turkey (13 out of 24), the rest being divided between Bangladesh with 6, India with 3 and Pakistan with 2. So far in 2016, 4 such vessels have been documented for breaking: two drill ships to India, an FPSO to Pakistan and a drill-platform to Turkey.
Source & Image Credit: www.offthebeach.org (NGO Shipbreaking Platform’s blog)