To Genoa, with the Concord, the possibility is tested to reactivate the activities of naval demolition



Exist does the possibility that the Italian and European enterprises of the navalmeccanico field return to take care of activity of naval demolition? In truth already it has happened. In these days, in fact, the operations of dismantling of the Costa Concordia cruise ship been shipwrecked at the beginning of 2012 on the stumbling blocks of the Tuscany island of the Lily and towed this summer until the port of Genoa to conclusion of an operation of preparation of the property left at death one are begun to extremely complex navigation.

To lead the work it is the consortium Ship Recycling participated with 51% from the Saipem, society that is under responsibility of the Eni group, and with 49% from genoese Saint George of the Port, shipbuilding company stopped from holding Genoa Naval Industries (Garrè families, Bisagno and Zanetti). Therefore the answer to the question by the responsibles of the consortium is discounted. However not even they do not risk to formulate forecasts on the development of this business, subject as they are to a numberless series of unknown quantities beginning from that hinge: the normative picture.

The Concord does not represent a real return to this type of activity, how much rather a been born exploratory experience from a contingent fact. "We are of the pioneers", the managing director of Ship Recycling, Ferdinando Garrè has confirmed today, introducing the project of dismantling and money laundering of the property left at death one in the center of Genoa Confindustria. "In Italy - it has added - this type of work is abandoned in the Eighties".

For a long time the dismantling of the ships happens mainly in the Asian south-east where the costs of labor are extremely low and labor availability is elevated. The ships are demolished on the spiagge of the region often without the means employment and infrastructures and with I use it of simple instruments from cut. Today, in absence of specific norms, the factor is alone cost to determine the choice of the demolition place.

Only over recent years the international community has produced a legislation in matter. Draft of the Convention of Hong Kong adopted on May 15, 2009 from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that but it will take effect alone 24 months after the ratified one by at least 15 nations to which pairs are under responsibility mercantile fleets altogether at least 40% of the tonnage world-wide total (inforMARE on May 15, 2009). Today "Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships" is ratified by hardly five States (France, Italy, Holland, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Turkey) and sees three contracting States (the Congo, France and Norway) for a percentage of the world-wide tonnage pairs to 1.98%.

In Europe the matter is object of regulations on the demolition and recycling of the ships of the EU commission that is adopted a year ago from the Parliament and the Council of the EU (inforMARE on October 22, 2013). The new norm is not still in vigor: the regulations EU n. 1257/2013, as it recites the text, will be applied "to pass from before the two following dates, but not before on December 31, 2015: a) six months from the date in which the arranged maximum annual volume of recycling of the ships of the systems of recycling of the ships enrolled in the European directory it represents at least 2,5 million tons of displacement (LDT in vain). The annual volume of recycling of the ships of a system of recycling of the ships is calculated adding the weight expressed in LDT of the ships that are recycled in a data year in such system. The maximum annual volume of recycling of the ships is determined selecting the elevated value more recorded in the ten years precedence for every system of recycling of the ships or, if of a system of recycling of the ships authorized recently, the achieved elevated annual value more in such system; or b) on December 31, 2018".

Al beyond the uncertainties on the effective which took effect of the norm EU, is obvious that this, alone, could not be enough to create a market of the naval demolitions in Europe and could indeed induce the same European shipowners to estimate the possibility to transfer their ships under other flags in order to avoid to tackle to a pull-up of the cost of the dismantling of the old units of the fleet. "That of the demolition - it has emphasized the president of the Harbour Authority of Genoa, Luigi Merlo, in the course of the encounter - up to now is considered by the shipowners as a residuale cost".

Of the same Garrè is aware: also evidencing as Ship Recycling considers that this field will be able to offer job opportunity, it has specified that the business perspectives will be able perhaps to be realized single in the medium period.

While the consortium makes boneses on Costa Concordia, a project of dismantling and money laundering of exceptional character for dimensions and type of the participation that is regulated by a contract that - Garrè has announced - has a value of 104 million dollars. Ulterior revenues will be able to derive from the sale of the materials of the ship, mainly steel and metals of which it is previewed to recover altogether about 50.000 tons.

The operation - Valerio Mulas has confirmed, project manager of Ship Recycling - will be completed in May 2016 in four executive phases in the course of 22 months with the 100-250 employment people. The first phase, in course, is relative to the arrival of the ship to Genoa, to the mooring near the Outer Dam of the area harbour of Prà-Voltri and to its lightening with the removal of the furnishings and the preparations of the bridges emerged with the objective to reduce the draught carrying it from current the -17,5 meters about to -14,5/-15,5 meters (dependent from the state of performance of the dredgings running in the port) in order allowing the access of the ship in the area of the naval repairs. The second phase previews the transfer of Costa Concordia in this area carrying it to the Former Pier Superbasin and the next dismantling of the bridges from the 14 to the 2. With the third phase the propedeutiche activities to the transfer of the property left at death one in the dry dock will be realized n. 4, between which the removal of the 30 large chests that currently allow the water line of the ship. With the last phase the final operations of dismantling will be carried out.

Ship Recycling wishes that, once carried to term the project, will be the conditions in order to acquire new store clerks of naval demolition. Now as now this seems a bet.