The "Zortürk", which was immobilised at Saint-Nazaire since July 2009, on Nov 17, 2014, entered the repair yard # 3. The ship which was pulled and pushed by two tugs left the dock shortly after 9 a.m. and moved to the Penhoët basin where it was to be repaired within the forthcoming months. The owner had arrived in St. Nazaire last week. The "Zorturk" was detained after having entered the port as "Aspet" in July 2009.
The actual owner had bought the "Aspet" and has always maintained contact with the prefecture and the Turkish consulate. The "Aspet" had suffered a leak and a strong list to port and was moored in port on July 25. In the basin Penhoët it was deserted by its crew in October 2013. After a long legal drama, having been sold to several owners, being registered under the flags of Togo and Panama, etc., the ship was finallly detained. Story beginsNew episode in the incredible story of the freighter Zortürk immobilized in Saint-Nazaire for over five years. Against all odds, the ship that everyone already saw cut in one of the dry docks of Penhoët basin is indeed dry-docked yesterday morning but not be deconstructed.
This is a new attempt to repair the old ship 154 meters long and 24 meters wide, built in 1983. A company apparently Turkish, is hard at work trying to get the boat ready and thus allowing him to leave the French port.For the record, the cargo ship, which was then called Aspet won catastrophe Saint-Nazaire in July 2009. Threatening to sink, he had been hauled in an emergency, in form 3, where he finally stayed two years.
Because its owner, following these setbacks, had disappeared, abandoning his ship and a dozen sailors, finally returning home without having received their wages. Taken over in 2011 and renamed Zortürk, it was repaired and refloated, leaving the passage Georgia to the flag of Togo. While a new sea-river operations, for example in Africa, was raised, it was from the Loire estuary in 2012. But the Zortürk has not moved, Maritime Affairs saying it was not ready to sail.
Additional safety work requested have not been made, the cargo ship was left again to play lasting suction vessel.
Faced with this situation and the discomfort caused by this old hull bulky dock, the Port of Nantes Saint-Nazaire had begun legal proceedings to take possession of Zortürk and thus do dismantled in the form 3. A process which clearly did not succeed because the ship is still in the hands of a private owner, Turkish or Caucasian depending on the version, which has opted for a final attempt repair. May be hoping to make some money instead of the old shell before it loses in the property.
Deconstruction activities authorized since September
While ligérienne Port Authority does not wish to speak on the subject, the "owner" would, according to some sources, three months to repair the ship. Either he comes and Zortürk finally left St. Nazaire after getting the green light for Maritime Affairs or the yard ended in another failure. In which case the port would take the hand, this time to end this dead weight through the torches.
The GPMNSN has in any case all administrative permissions for it. After an application filed in June 2013 as part of the use of dry docks of Penhoët basin for ship dismantling, the Environmental Authority of the General Council of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CGEDD) had made its opinion on 22 January. After incorporating the recommendations in this instance, the case was the subject of a public inquiry from March 31 to April 30, then moved to the County Council for the environment and health and technological risks (CODERST) September 11 . A final step before getting on September 29, the prefectural order authorizing this activity.
A complementary activity but mostly opportunity
Now it is possible to entrust private operators of dismantling facilities in the forms of Penhoët basin, able to accommodate vessels up to about 200 meters. An activity that could allow GPMNSN better return on its port facilities as ship repair permits to occupy half time forms 1 to 3. The same logic has also chaired the project to establish a logistics hub for offshore wind near the Joubert-shaped lock, which itself also remains underutilized. But it is clear that, for now, the port of Nantes Saint-Nazaire does not seem very favorable to the emergence of a large ship dismantling pole. The market is in fact quite narrow and there is already the presence on the Bordeaux Bassens site, the new scrap yard operated by Veolia. In fact, permission to deconstruct ship, which is permanent, has mainly been applied to treat intractable cases like Zortürk.