MOBY DREA
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505 days ago
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Solution for asbestos removal found
The Port Authority of Taranto, along with the local harbormaster's office, has granted permission to use the Calata IV commercial terminal for the cleanup of the 'Moby Drea'. For several months, Med Fuel has been searching for a port capable of removing the asbestos-containing panels from the cabins of the ferry. The work has been contracted to Ecologica Spa, a company specializing in such operations. The work is expected to take approximately 90 days and could begin in about a month. This allows time to finalize the work plan and await approval from Spesal (the occupational safety and health authority). The asbestos-containing panels will be stored, packaged, and sealed before being loaded directly from the ship onto trucks that travel to a specialized disposal center in Basilicata, where they will ultimately be processed in a special facility. The vessel is already moored at the dock, having sought shelter in the port due to the weather and sea conditions, in order to prevent its tow cable from snapping off the port. The Ionian Sea Port Authority has expressed its willingness to allow the work to be carried out in Taranto.
Moby Drea permitted to enter Taranto
The 'Moby Drea', which has been wandering the Mediterranean and along the Italian coast for weeks, searching for a berth to remove and dispose of asbestos-containing panels from its cabins, was permitted to enter Taranto on the night of Sep 17. After the local Port Authority initially had denied the vessel's entry into the port of Taranto, the Port Authority, led by Captain Leonardo Deri, granted the request from the captain of the tug 'Protug 75' to enter and moor at the port for safety reason, declaring it unsafe due to worsening weather conditions and requested a berth here in Taranto. On the morning, with the assistance of port services, it arrived in Taranto, where it will stay for the strictly necessary time without carrying out any work on board. If the towline had broken due to adverse weather conditions, the vessel would have been adrift without people on board in the Gulf of Taranto. This situation was unacceptable for the safety of navigation and the protection of the marine environment. The RINA towing certificates are also expiring and will therefore need to be renewed before the vessel can set sail again, still under tow. The Municipality of Taranto has updated that the situation is being constantly monitored and that the vessel's presence will be limited to the time strictly necessary to restore safety and allow navigation to resume. The mayor's position remains clear: the ship's cleanup cannot be carried out in Taranto. The administration is firmly requesting precise guarantees regarding compliance with safety and environmental procedures, to protect public health and the local area. For these reasons, ARPA Puglia and the Local Health Authority (ASL) will be involved, and will be required to carry out any extraordinary environmental and health checks.
CEO: Ferry will not be scrapped, but properly disposed of asbestos
The owner of the 'Moby Drea', the Messina-based company Med Fuel, has reassured that the ship will not be scrapped. The ferry was neither purchased by Moby nor sent to a shipyard in Croatia for scrapping. The ship has meanwhile reached the Calabrian coast under tow, but the port of Crotone has so far denied the availability of a dock. Davide Prestopino, the CEO of the company, said that sending the ship to Split to remove panels containing a percentage of encapsulated asbestos, was a responsible choice, also dictated by commercial reasons to increase the attractiveness on the charter market and increase the value, while there was no legal obligation to do so. The vessel could continue sailing as it has done so far and as other sister vessels plying Italian seas were doing. Therefore, rumours that the 'Moby Drea' was on the market seeking a scrapyard is denied. Regarding the removal and disposal of the panels, which must be entrusted to a specialized company with appropriate certifications, any omissions will be investigated and, if necessary, legal action taken. To carry out the task, the company in charge will board the ship, dismantle the panels in question, seal them according to the procedures required by current legislation, and transport them for final disposal, an operation not dissimilar to many interventions frequently conducted in many Italian and European ports. Med Fuel was intending to complete this work in Crotone now, but there were also options for carrying it out in other Italian and foreign shipyards in the Mediterranean. in the worst-case scenario, there could be 370 tons of panels containing a percentage of asbestos. Therefore, the asbestos on board could be around 60 tons, not hundreds as some have suggested.
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