Former ferry Onyx could face return to Vaasa

Questions raised over vessel's intended destination, with Bangla Deshi breaker's yard one possibility

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The former ferry Onyx, which was sold ostensibly to go into service as a cargo vessel in the Middle East, now appears to have been intended after all for the breaker’s yard, in contravention of EU rules on the scrapping of ships in countries outside the OECD.
      The ship, which had been held up in dock in Vaasa for two years waiting for permission to be sold for just this reason, was eventually put into some semblance of seaworthy shape and sailed last month for Turkey.
     
However, bad weather in the English Channel undid all the work to get her fit for her voyage, and she berthed in Brest in France for essential repairs (see attached article).
      The French authorities have taken a very close interest in the ship and its crew, and indications are now that the Finnish maritime officials may have been royally hoodwinked: according to reports on the morning news of YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, the vessel’s master has allegedly admitted that the final destination of the Onyx was not a Turkish dry-dock prior to service in the Gulf, but instead a Bangla Deshi breaker’s yard.
     
Europan Union countries are prohibited from taking vessels to be broken up for scrap in countries outside the OECD.
      In the case of the Onyx, formerly known as the Casino Express and the Fennia, there are serious concerns about the amount of asbestos in the ship’s structures.
      Unless the paperwork can be satisfactorily straightened out, there is a chance that the Onyx, once fitted out for onward travel, will be heading back in the direction whence she came, in other words to Vaasa on Finland’s west coast.
     
A statement on the website of the Finnish Environment Institute on Monday morning did nevertheless hold out a possible straw: the captain and crew of the vessel have been changed and apparently a representative of the new owners Attar Construction has vehemently denied any suggestion that the ship was bound for its last voyage.
      The 43-year-old ship is currently being readied for departure from Brest. Wherever she is going next, she will require a seaworthiness certificate from the authorities first


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Troubled former ferry Onyx must not leave France before it has been repaired substantially (2.12.2009)

Links:
  Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

Helsingin Sanomat