Table of Contents for Photos of In-Water Shipbreaking Sites in the United States Other Than in Virginia
Introduction
S-PHOTO 1. USS England being scrapped at International Shipbreaking Limited in Brownsville, Texas.
S-PHOTO 2. USS Iwo Jima being scrapped at International Shipbreaking Limited in Brownsville, Texas.
S-PHOTOS 3. U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) photos of shipbreaking at unspecified site(s), NOT at Bay Bridge in Virginia.
Photos of shipbreaking workers are in s-work-1.htm.
See some enlarged photos of in-water shipbreaking at Bay Bridge Enterprises LLC in Virginia; many photos are also in Virginia DEQ reconnaissance inspections of Bay Bridge.
Also see "Company Video" link for International Shipbreaking Limited, LLC, Brownsville, Texas that includes some shots of in-water shipbreaking at their site and also includes their perspectives on shipbreaking.
Scott Kowerduck's photo of the "USS England (DLG-CG-22) undergoing dismantlement at International Shipbreaking Limited [in Brownsville, Texas] on 15 January 2004" (154). The USS England was formerly a guided missile cruiser (154) and was being scrapped under the Navy's shipbreaking program for combatant ships--MARAD's shipbreaking program is for governmental merchant-type vessels of 1,500 gross tons or more (p. 4 and 6 in 73). However, International Shipbreaking Limited can scrap ships for both the Navy and MARAD (section XI in 23), and this photograph shows their dismantling site.
There are two ships being dismantled in the in-water shipbreaking slip. The USS England is the larger gray ship (154) near the channel with the floating yellow boom to try to contain oil and floating debris. The bow of the other ship has been largely removed and looks similar to MARAD's photo in a GAO report as Figure 2 in S-Photo 3. This is 57% the size of the original photo; see http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/1122/040122.htm for the full-sized photo that better shows details and for a photo of it on 24 April 2004 after it underwent more dismantling.
Note the unpaved work areas near the shipbreaking area, the piles of scrap to the right of the shipbreaking slip, and the absence of buildings in the background. The Virginian-Pilot's Scott Harper wrote in 2005 about shipbreaking in the Port of Brownsville (28):
" 'We’re off the beaten path, we’re strictly industrial, and there’s really no homes anywhere nearby,' said Donna E. Eymard, interim director of the Port of Brownsville, which leases land to the yards. 'We’re about creating jobs, and these are good jobs for our region.' "
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The USS Iwo Jima was a helicopter carrier (33), so it was probbly being scrapped under the Navy's shipbreaking program for combatant ships--MARAD's shipbreaking program is for governmental merchant-type vessels of 1,500 gross tons or more (p. 4 and 6 in 73). However, International Shipbreaking Limited can scrap ships for both the Navy and MARAD (section XI in 23), and this photograph shows their dismantling site. Note the piles of scrap on the unpaved areas on both sides of the shipbreaking slip.
This photo is by Perry Thorsvik and was in a 7 December 1997 article by Will Englund and Gary Cohn in a Pulitzer winning article in the Baltimore Sun (33). Also see 33 and 34 for other photos about shipbreaking in this series. The caption is (33):
"To the bare bones: Workers stripping the helicopter carrier USS Iwo Jima (shown in an aerial view) found pipes and boilers shrouded with asbestos, lead paint on the hull and toxic chromates in ballast tanks."
Go to S-PHOTOS 3 of Other Shipbreaking Sites
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