Both Jim and Robin joined Tom Peter Blankestijn of Sea2Cradle to visit the ship recycling facility in Brest, France – Les Recycleurs Bretons – one of the first yards on the EU List of Ship Recycling facilities.

At first sight, the yard is a small adjunct to a well established industrial recycling facility. The initial area is a quayside, where surface drainage slopes naturally away from the water into a bunded and drained area with a water treatment plant.

This has the normal facilities for minor dismantling, management and disposal of light waste.

However the jewel in the crown is the large dry dock very close by, measuring 225m x 34m.

The facility has a given maximum capacity of 10 000 LDT per annum. More details, and video of grab / shear dismantling on their website;https://www.navaleo.fr/

The visit was on the 19th February and many thanks to Recycleurs Breton for inviting us.