Protest halts asbestos-removal on Moby Drea at Brodosplit
Built as Tor Britannia in 1975, Moby Drea is now 50 years old, and was set to be scrapped in Turkey after asbestos removal was completed in Croatia (Source: Moby Lines)
Brodosplit Shipyard has been ordered to remove the cruise ferry Moby Drea following protests by local residents over asbestos-removal work.
The 1975-built vessel, formerly Tor Britannia and Prince of Scandinavia, contains about 350 tonnes of asbestos in partition panels. The ship arrived at Brodosplit in late July under tow for specialist stripping and refit work. New owner, Med Fuel of Messina, intended to move it to Piraeus for further conversion to commercial service.
Residents of Vranjic, near Split, organised demonstrations outside the yard and filed a petition with the Croatian Government, citing the region’s long history of asbestos-linked deaths. The Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure subsequently ordered the vessel’s removal from Croatian waters by early September.
Med Fuel said it halted all work on receipt of the order on August 11th. “None of the asbestos panels will be removed going forward,” the company confirmed, adding it is now arranging a tow from Split. The ministry has granted a 15-day extension for departure, with the port authority overseeing compliance.
The Moby Drea had been earmarked earlier this year for scrapping at Aliaga, Turkey, but was diverted for the disputed asbestos-removal project.
