BNFL confirmed yesterday (2nd February) that they are to lay off the ship Pacific Swan. Whilst no press statement has been issued by the company, a BNFL press spokesperson said today that ‘the ship had completed all its scheduled work’.
The Pacific Swan, oldest ship of the nuclear fleet, joins the Pacific Crane which was taken out of service in October 2002. As with the Pacific Swan, the Pacific Crane (built in 1980) was judged by BNFL ‘to have come to the end of its working life’. Suspiciously, its retirement followed close on the heels of information leaked from the fleet’s shipping agents (James Fisher & Sons, Barrow) that she was suffering from significant rusting of the hull. The Pacific Swan, built in 1979, was considered a likely candidtate for similar rusting problems.
The fleet of ‘Pacific ‘ ships are operated by Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd (PNTL), a company in which BNFL is a majority shareholder. The remaining shares are held by the French company COGEMA and the Japanese Overseas Reprocessing Committee (ORC). Built by Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Limited at Hebburn, the Pacific Swan was dedicated to the transport of irradiated fuel from Japan to Sellafield for reprocessing. On several occasions the ship was used to transport flasks of vitirified high level nuclear waste from the French reprocessing plant at La Hague to Japan.
With the the laying up of both the Pacific Crane and Pacific Swan at their home port of Barrow-in-Furness, the Pacific fleet now consists of just three operational ships – the Pacific Sandpiper, Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal. The two latter ships are specially armed with naval canon to ship plutonium fuel to Japan, though no Japanese utility has yet given any such business to BNFL.Two other ships, wholly owned by BNFL, are also currently in use. The European Shearwater transports irradiated fuel from European customers to Sellafield. This trade, principally from German power stations, will end in 2005 after which utilities will permanently store their fuel in Germany. The Atlantic Osprey, a roll on – roll off cargo vessel purchased second-hand by BNFL in 2001, is destined to carry Sellafield’s plutonium fuel to European customers – a programme that is already running at least one year behind schedule. The ship has been modified to carry an extra security crew provided by the UKAEA police as have the Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal. During its short life with BNFL, the Atlantic Osprey has already suffered a number of mishaps including an engine-room fire which disabled the ship in the Manchester Ship Canal.
The purchase of the Atlantic Osprey in 2001 led to questions being raised as to why BNFL and PNTL needed to maintain such a large fleet of ships at a time when their business was in general decline. In response, BNFL stated that ‘the investment reflects BNFL’s commitment to extend its operational capability to meet the current and future requirements of its customers’. The subsequent laying-up of the Pacific Crane, and now the retirement of the Pacific Swan indicates that those requirements are dwindling rapidly.
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