| İzmir’s Aliağa district, a center of industry with manufacturing plants, petrochemical and refinery facilities and host to a ship demolition yard, has become the “ship demolition center” of Europe. | |
| The district has been attracting numerous European firms since last year due to its modern ship demolition facilities. A total of 127 ships, mostly from European countries, were demolished at the shipyard in Aliağa in 2009, while 187 vessels were disposed of in the region in the first 10 months of 2010, officials told the Anatolia news agency on Friday. Adem Şimşek, chairman of the Ship Recyclers’ Association of Turkey (GEMİSANDER), said the ship demolition facility had been modernized recently, business health and safety conditions at work improved and a total of $10 million spent to prevent pollution. Şimşek also said European maritime firms preferred the Aliağa ship demolition yard thanks to the Aegean town’s environment-friendly facilities. The chairman noted that nearly 1,800 people were employed at the ship demolition yard, adding 152,757 tons of ships had been demolished in the region in 2008, while the figure had risen to 297,881 tons in 2009. “During the first 10 months of 2010, 187 ships weighing 333,280 tons in total have been scrapped in Aliaga. Our goal is to reach 425,000 tons by the end of the year. We aim to recycle 98 percent of the ships sent to our region,” he explained. Şimşek said five to six countries currently deal with ship demolition; however, none of these countries have made progress in terms of Europe’s environmental standards. “Turkey is the only country among them that acts in accordance with environmental regulations and EU standards,” he noted. Şimşek added that Turkey does not accept problematic and dangerous vessels, nuclear waste or ships with asbestos for disposal. |
Source: 06 November 2010, Saturday / Today’s Zaman, İstanbul
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-226503-105-izmirs-aliaga-becomes-europes-ship-demolition-center.html
http://www.turkishforum.com.tr/en/content/2010/11/06/turkeys-western-town-becomes-ship-demolition-center-of-europe-turkishny-com/
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