Two eras come together on the quays of Bassens this Monday. Right next to the shiny Canopy – first sailing freighter in the world sailing on behalf of Ariane 6 – the ex-Suffrenis now nothing more than an immense pile of scrap metal with its rusty hull, and looks very pale.
Arriving on Friday, this national navy ship made its final journey, pulled by three tugboats from Toulon, with a view to being completely cut up in the installations of the Grand Maritime Port of Bordeaux (GPMB). Its radome, an enormous ball which served as its radar, is the last sign of the glorious past of this missile frigate, which served from 1967 to 2001.
A thirty-six month project
THE Suffren is the first of eight ships of the French navy which will reach the docks of Bassens in the coming months, to be deconstructed there. An “exceptional” thirty-six month project, announces the port of Bordeaux, which is one of 18 global sites approved by the European Union for the dismantling of ships. This is “the longest deconstruction project hosted by the GPMB. »
The 158 meter long building began to be inspected this Monday by Cardem teams. It is this subsidiary of Vinci which won, with the company Snadec environment (for decontamination and asbestos removal) and the company Sirmet (for the scrap metal recovery part), the call for tenders from the French navy for the deconstruction of these eight hulls.
Ships from Toulon, Brest and Lorient
The first works on the Suffren will be done afloat, before the ship enters dry dock (or form of refit), in about a year. Cardem will thus begin in the next few days with “green cleaning”, a stage which consists of removing from the ship all the furniture, wood, carpets, wiring, before proceeding with the asbestos removal of the warship, a stage which should take between four and six months. Only then can the operation of cutting the boat into dry dock begin, which should also take between four and six months.
THE Suffren will quickly be joined by the Meuse, a 135 meter long supply tanker, also from Toulon, and whose arrival in Bordeaux is scheduled by the end of December. Second come, first served: Meuse will be the first of eight ships to enter dry dock, by March 2024. The John of ViennaTHE Montcalm and the Cassard (all three 139 m long) also coming from Toulon. In the following months, two hulls from Brest will arrive in stages – theAlbatross and the Georges Leygues – while the last – the D’Entrecasteaux – will arrive from Lorient.
Ban on sinking ships offshore
All these vessels are received at station 429 in Bassens which, with its platforms and refit form number 3, with a length of 250 meters, are part of a set of equipment classified ICPE (Installations classified as environmental protection). ‘environment). These have just been upgraded, which makes it possible to recover and recycle all the water before discharging it.
“The deconstruction of these eight large hulls will result in the recycling of around 25,000 tonnes of scrap metal, part of which will be evacuated via the Bassens quays,” explains the port of Bordeaux. Other waste will be evacuated to dedicated treatment channels. »
Before 2005, military boats were “oceanized”, that is to say, sunk offshore, sometimes after having served as exercise targets. Since then, this practice has been banned in France and the ships are destroyed after the launch of calls for tenders.
Future sector
The GPMB naval center has already hosted several merchant and military ship recycling yards, with increasingly significant activity since 2012. It was notably responsible for the dismantling of the Colbert then Jeanne D’Arcfrom 2014.
“These deconstruction operations carried out by the national navy confirm the need for an industrial sector, in a context marked by the scheduled end of the life cycle of many military vessels” further indicates the port of Bordeaux. Because yes, these ships of the past also represent a sector of the future.