A few days ago we mentioned the SS Norway wandering the seas in search of a place to be dismantled. Asbestos and other hazards on board are scaring potential host countries. Now we see out of France, a naval ship in a similar situation. The aircraft carrier Clemenceau pulled into the port at Brest after failing to find a country willing to accept it for dismantling. The hull has asbestos in it and India rejected the ship for that reason.
A few years ago a Spanish company bought the rights to the hull and promised it would be broken in a European Union country. The company then decided to take the ship to Turkey, which at the time was not part of the EU and had lower environmental standards, so the French government cancelled the deal. They then attempted to send the Clemenceau to India but Egypt at first denied access through the Suez canal. The European Commission and India’s High Court both got into the situation. The result is that the ship is not going to India and nobody knows what to do with it now.
A shining example of the legacy of asbestos use and the impacts of that use on today’s world.