Nuclear waste ‘bin’ gone
Months later, the ship that was hounded around world, leaves
WITHOUT fanfare, infamous former nuclear waste “dirt bin” ship BBC Shanghai was this week towed out of the East London Harbour by a deep-sea tug.
The Dispatch noticed on Thursday that the ship “Long Bob” was being towed away, and upon some investigating was told it was in fact the notorious BBC Shanghai. In 2015, this nuclear-waste laden 4 090-ton cargo vessel was hounded on its journey around the globe by anti-nuke activists amid international publicity.
This week, Long Bob was towed off to India to be sold for scrap. It will make its last pitstop at Port Louis in Mauritius.
Yesterday, Transnet’s East London Port spokesman Terry Taylor confirmed that the ship had been sold and renamed Long Bpb while in the East London harbour.
“Between the owners of the vessel and the insurers it was decided not to repair it. It was uneconomical to fix it,” Taylor said.
“There have been various surveyors coming into the harbour to have a look at her.”
On Thursday, deep-sea salvage tug Teras Genesis pulled out of the harbour with Long Bob in tow.
In March this year, the then-BBC Shanghai was 35km off Mazeppa Bay in an unusual cyclone-affected south swell when it blew a piston. With 11 crew members on board, the vessel was towed for more than 12 hours to the East London Harbour.
The former nuclear waste cargo vessel was given a thorough official inspection while moored off East London before being allowed into port.
Now, almost five months later, Taylor said Transnet charged a “nominal” amount for the rescue. This was despite allegations that Transnet had initially demanded a R254million guarantee ($20-million), which Taylor denied at the time. — siyat@dispatch.co.za