France’s Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie has insisted that the country’s obsolete aircraft carrier Clemenceau ‘will not rot in Brest’. The declaration was made at a meeting in Paris attended by Brest’s mayor François Cuillandre.
The minister said the government’s priority was to ensure the controversial aircraft carrier was dismantled ‘as soon as possible’. It was added, however, that the dismantling of warships containing asbestos had to be considered at European level. Mr Cuillandre duly noted the minister’s comments but insisted the Clemenceau could remain in Brest only for a limited period - and certainly not beyond the spring of 2008 when Brest would again host its maritime festival.
Mr Cuillandre confirmed that the creation of a site for dismantling end-of-life vessels could be of interest to the city but that such a venture ‘must not penalise industrialists, who have long been committed to military and civil ship construction and repair’. He also pointed out that Brest’s civil dry docks were currently overbooked and that the city would prefer its military docks to be used for the construction of new ships, such as future European multi-mission frigates.
The Clemenceau is currently anchored off Mombasa in Kenya where she is waiting for high-seas tug Sable Cape to take her to Brest. The aircraft carrier is expected to arrive in Brest towards the end of May.
Meanwhile, a subsidiary of French water and energy giant Suez has offered its services to the French government to decontaminate and dismantle the asbestos-laden Clemenceau warship. The Clemenceau is expected back in France at the end of May. Dealing with the Clemenceau will involve not only recycling 30 000 tonnes of waste metal that the ship is estimated to represent, but also disposing of an estimated 220 tonnes of asbestos. Suez subsidiary Sita France has declared itself ready to rise to this challenge, having already dealt with the first batch of asbestos from the Clemenceau.
