"Breaking" -- how does that work; how did that work back before iron ships? Luckily there's a little history. "In the days of the "wooden walls," a ship condemned to destruction was often burned or even carefully "lost" in some convenient spot. To-day the shipbreaking industry is run on scientific lines, and nothing is wasted." (It makes me itchy when people misuse "scientific" like that...)
"Even naval ships were sometimes treated in that way and to the present day small vessels and barges which have no sale value will often be carefully “lost” in some out-of-the-way corner. Harbour masters and conservancy authorities are careful to check this practice wherever possible; but even the Port of London Authority, responsible for the best-controlled port, in the world, often has trouble in stopping it."
1 comment:
The Willamette River waterfront in Portland, Oregon was in the sixties dominated by scrapyards - breakers. The bones of old ships were rendered there. I wonder if the end of recycling old ships was part of the decline of the steel industry in the states. No more saprophytic opportunities.
Post a Comment