Elf and Safety

[AMOREST]

Herewith BBC link to Launch Video of MV Hebridean Isles - Retired to be scrapped Today.

Knock out the struts and run like ****


Islanders bid a fond farewell to MV Hebridean Isles Islanders bid a fond farewell to MV Hebridean Isles

 

[jbweston]

Yes, they appear to run under the keel as the ship slides towards them. In those days, men were men - if they weren't flattened on the day shift.

 

[doug748]

Yes, they appear to run under the keel as the ship slides towards them. In those days, men were men - if they weren't flattened on the day shift.

Aye none of that fannying about with hard hats. Men were men and women liked it.

 

[William_H]

Being a boat lover I always wonder why a ship needs to be dismantled. What is really wrong with the old one. Is it the steel plating becoming thinner with corrosion or is it just old design and new design is better. I see navy ships scuttled after 40 or 50 years of life often less. I think particularly for navy would it not be better to keep it running and add to the fleet. I guess the answer is we don't have the sailors to man them.
My little boat is 45 years old and to me it is in the prime of life.
I suppose people who know more than me make the decisions but i still do not understand. ol'will

 

[Babylon]

A ship is much like a car in terms of wear and tear. Eventually everything needs fixing, replacing or re-building. At a certain point it becomes uneconomic to keep doing this and the only value left is as scrap.

Everything has a service-life built into it from the design stage. A ship can be re-fitted but not indefinitely. Warships that are driven hard need more frequent re-fits, and also need to keep up with advances in technology and changes in fighting requirements.

 

[Sandy]

Aye none of that fannying about with hard hats. Men were men and women liked it.

I hate to think what the state of their underwear was when they got home that night.

 

[cpedw]

I'm puzzled by the first picture in the BBC link. It's captioned "Stromness". Did Calmac operate into Orkney once upon a time?

 

[Sandy]

I'm puzzled by the first picture in the BBC link. It's captioned "Stromness". Did Calmac operate into Orkney once upon a time?

It has always been Northern Ferries on the Orkneys, but that does not stop any other vessel visiting!

I wonder if the journalist/AI headline writer got mixed up between Stornoway and Stromness after all both are quite far from Glasgow.

 

[Dellquay13]

A ship is much like a car in terms of wear and tear. Eventually everything needs fixing, replacing or re-building. At a certain point it becomes uneconomic to keep doing this and the only value left is as scrap.

Cold hard economics of shipping, the relentless use in a harsh environment, the catastrophic results of major failures in economic and environmental terms mean big ships can be scrapped after around 15years.
I have seen many big tankers that regularly visit the Milford Haven refineries disappear from the shipping lists after a decade or so. The companies remain, but the ships change.
You can’t just drop new engines in like you can with a yacht, when they are buried so deep under all that superstructure.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Basically, the steel of the hull slowly corrodes, and as others have noted, it becomes uneconomic to continue to patch it! There are other forms of deterioration of steel; there was a period in the 40s and 50s when the steel of which ships were built was particularly susceptible to lamellar tearing; that has condemned many ships, including at least one Polar research vessel. There are issues with machinery and spares as well; it may well be the case that spares are no longer available and have to be fabricated if required.

 

[The Q]

I'm puzzled by the first picture in the BBC link. It's captioned "Stromness". Did Calmac operate into Orkney once upon a time?

Cal Mac ferries have been loaned to routes in the Orkney and Shetland isles in the past. But I do agree it's more likely is a reporter in Glasgow or Edinburgh getting it wrong..

Just missed that ferry myself as I generally used the Lochboisdale - Oban route by the 80s. In the 70s it was the Lochmaddy - Uig ferry to school.

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

It has always been Northern Ferries on the Orkneys, but that does not stop any other vessel visiting!

I wonder if the journalist/AI headline writer got mixed up between Stornoway and Stromness after all both are quite far from Glasgow.

As an aside. An alternative Stromness. Oh Happy days
RFA Stromness - Wikipedia

 

[ylop]

Being a boat lover I always wonder why a ship needs to be dismantled. What is really wrong with the old one. Is it the steel plating becoming thinner with corrosion or is it just old design and new design is better. I see navy ships scuttled after 40 or 50 years of life often less. I think particularly for navy would it not be better to keep it running and add to the fleet. I guess the answer is we don't have the sailors to man them.
My little boat is 45 years old and to me it is in the prime of life.
I suppose people who know more than me make the decisions but i still do not understand. ol'will

To get through its classification survey was going to take 6 months of dry dock and huge expense. To put it in perspective when she was launched the Citroen AX had just come to market, and the height of home computing was the Sinclair 128k! I doubt there are many busses that old on the market (reg plates like DnnnLLL), or even trains? Obviously there are exceptions but they are mostly museum pieces. Even if you got her through classification she just isn’t reliable enough to be in regular service (and parts are all custom made) which makes her useless as a backup vessel.

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

To get through its classification survey was going to take 6 months of dry dock and huge expense. To put it in perspective when she was launched the Citroen AX had just come to market, and the height of home computing was the Sinclair 128k! I doubt there are many busses that old on the market (reg plates like DnnnLLL), or even trains? Obviously there are exceptions but they are mostly museum pieces. Even if you got her through classification she just isn’t reliable enough to be in regular service (and parts are all custom made) which makes her useless as a backup vessel.

+1 for above. Passenger ship classification is of an extremely high, and expensive, standard. Comes a time when complying is time and cost prohibitive. Bear in mind that 30 years is a long time in the life of a standard merchant vessel never mind a passenger carrier.

 

[Stemar]

Passenger ship classification is of an extremely high, and expensive, standard.

Well, it is in the UK. I suspect there are a few ferry companies in the Philippines and similar countries who'd be quite happy to "Take it off yer 'ands if you give a few quid, Mate" and run the old girl until she finally goes to a watery grave,

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

Well, it is in the UK. I suspect there are a few ferry companies in the Philippines and similar countries who'd be quite happy to "Take it off yer 'ands if you give a few quid, Mate" and run the old girl until she finally goes to a watery grave,

That is very true, in some cases unfortunately so!

 

[SaltIre]

For six months from October 2002, she was chartered to NorthLink Ferries and inaugurated their Stromness to Scrabster service.
MV Hebridean Isles - Wikipedia