Circular shipbreaking launched by Damen

Built in 1927, the Jan will be dismantled in line with Damen’s Ship Recycling Facility Plan at the ship repair site Botlek in Rotterdam.

Damen says the facility is on the EU’s list of certified ship-recycling facilities, which means the work will be in line with EU regulations.

“The project will serve as a trial, after which this approach of ‘green’ ship dismantling and recycling will be made available commercially, and also for larger vessels,” says Damen, which will work on the project with Bottelier Slooptechniek, a specialist in circular demolition.

The firm says that once dismantled, ’there will be complete transparency about the amounts of dismantled materials and how they have been reused, recycled or disposed of’.

“We identify all the materials from the Jan and assess their potential for reuse,” says Nick van Egten, commercial director and co-owner of the Bottelier Group. “In that way, the maximum environmental and economic return can be generated from the materials in their residual life.”

“An approach has already been drafted with respect to the commercialisation and financing of circular ship dismantling projects in the future,” says Damen. “Damen Financial Services is working in this area with Offshore Ship Recycling Rotterdam.”

“It is just a pilot to look at the procedures regarding circular dismantling work,” spokesperson Corporate Affairs for Damen told Maritime Journal. 

“IWe have assessed all materials on board for the degree of reusability. Items that were most suitable for this in advance were the propeller, engine, rudder and the lock pin. However, none of these items turned out to be suitable for reuse. 

“Apart from that all material flows, including steel, stainless steel and brass, have been sorted and offered separately for recycling. We expect the ship to be completely dismantled by the end of this week (and even a bit sooner).

“It’s not only the cost aspect that will determine the future of circular manufacturing. Re-use and recycling will save on valuable raw materials.”