Asbestos on Navy ships

sparky42

I sure it deserves it's own thread, but news today that both of the Peacock class ships, LE Orla and Ciara have been removed from service for the time being. It's printed in the Irish Examiner but doesn't seem to be online yet.

White Asbestos has been discovered in the engineering spaces of both of them (first Orla in Cobh dockyard, then Ciara at the base) and specialists have been called in to deal with the matter, with the work crew being tested for exposure.

The ships were certified as Asbestos free over a decade ago, so I wonder if there's going to be any legal action from their crews?

EDIT Here's the article now:

Two naval service ships are in lockdown after workers were exposed to asbestos during routine maintenance at dockyards in Cork.

Meanwhile, an investigation is being carried out by navy chiefs into how outside consultants declared the ships to be asbestos-free when they carried out a survey on them 14 years ago.

It emerged that the alarm was raised early last week when routine maintenance was carried out on the LÉ Orla in Verolme dockyard, Cobh.

A worker spotted what he suspected was asbestos while inspecting part of the ship’s engine room.

In accordance with Health and Safety Authority regulations, expert external consultants were immediately called in to take samples, which later tested positive. The navy then locked down the LÉ Orla’s sister ship,the LÉ Ciara, which was also brought into service in 1985.

She was undergoing routine maintenance at the same time, but at the navy’s own dockyard at its headquarters at Haulbowline.

Tight security has been imposed on both vessels to ensure nobody else is exposed before experts remove the material safely.

"The samples confirmed it was white asbestos, which is less dangerous than blue or brown asbestos," a navy spokesman said.

Nevertheless, experts are trying to ascertain how many people may have been exposed to potentially dangerous dust particles.

They believe that at least eight workers may have been exposed and they will be medically assessed.

It is expected the asbestos control experts will have completed their assessments by early next week at the latest, by which time clean-up operations will begin.

The spokesman said both ships will be out of commission until this process is completed and, in the interim, others ships will, if necessary, take up the slack to ensure there is no reduction in sea patrols.

Despite their age, neither of the two coastal patrol class vessels are in line to be replaced in the immediate future.

Two older ships, the LÉ Emer and LÉ Aoife, are due to be replaced by new €50m stealth-type warships.

The LÉ Samuel Beckett will be delivered in a couple of weeks to replace the LÉ Emer.

Horusire

sparky42 wrote: »

I sure it deserves it's own thread, but news today that both of the Peacock class ships, LE Orla and Ciara have been removed from service for the time being. It's printed in the Irish Examiner but doesn't seem to be online yet.

White Asbestos has been discovered in the engineering spaces of both of them (first Orla in Cobh dockyard, then Ciara at the base) and specialists have been called in to deal with the matter, with the work crew being tested for exposure.

The ships were certified as Asbestos free over a decade ago, so I wonder if there's going to be any legal action from their crews?

EDIT Here's the article now:

Stealth type warships??? Who the feck writes this stuff!!

Local-womanizer

Horusire wrote: »

Stealth type warships??? Who the feck writes this stuff!!

We have loads of ships don't ya know, you just can't see most of them!

Hedgemeister

Horusire wrote: »

Stealth type warships??? Who the feck writes this stuff!!

Obviously they meant new 50m 'Waterships.'

twinydavid

Hedgemeister wrote: »

Obviously they meant new 50m 'Waterships.'

90 metres

Conmaicne Mara

twinydavid wrote: »

90 metres

40 meters must be stealthy so, bloody recession.

sparky42

And now Eithne is down with Asbestos as well:rolleyes::mad:

sparky42

Seems that one of the Peacocks has been moved to the other side of the Basin, are we finally seeing some movement on repairing them?

mikeym

sparky42 wrote: »

Seems that one of the Peacocks has been moved to the other side of the Basin, are we finally seeing some movement on repairing them?

Yes.

Both ships should be at sea sometime next year.

sparky42

mikeym wrote: »

Yes.

Both ships should be at sea sometime next year.

Good news, hopefully there won't be anymore surprises, I wonder how much there is for such a long period, or was it just getting funding for the work?

aindriu80

is it safe just to remove the asbestos ? To be honest if there is asbestos in a ship it might be the final nail for the ship. Hopefully they will be sea worthy.

sparky42

Looking at this article it seems that it wasn't just in the ships...
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/navy-seeking-more-time-to-rid-ships-of-asbestos-290439.html

It shouldn't be too hard, just costly and I guess time consuming and frankly I doubt the Navv would allow them to be decommissioned without a contract for replacement

sparky42

So one of the Peacocks, I think Orla is in the graving dock, looks like a fair amount of piping has been removed and is on the deck now.

OzCam

Asbestos removal is fairly straightforward, just very time consuming and expensive.