Brodosplit Shipyard has landed in hot water with local residents over plans for restoring an aging cruise ship, the Moby Drea. The vessel has asbestos partition panels inside, and the shipyard’s work plan called for removing them – but local citizens were not interested in the perceived risks, and pressed successfully for a government order for the ship’s removal.
Moby Drea (ex names Tor Britannia, Prince of Scandinavia) is a 1975-built cruise ferry, originally designed with fine lines and high speeds in mind. In service in the Baltic Sea and North Sea, the vessel made up to 27 knots with four Pielstick diesels. A 1998 refit added more steel amidships, increasing bed capacity, broadening the beam by about 10 feet and raising gross tonnage by about 6,000 GT.
The cruise ferry is now 50 years old, well past the age for demolition for most commercial vessels. As recently as May, the ship was reported sold for delivery to Aliaga, Turkey for scrap value. However, on July 22, Croatian shipyard Brodosplit announced that it would be accepting Moby Drea into its facility for specialized asbestos removal work. Two days later, Shipping Italy confirmed that the vessel will be cleaned of asbestos, then moved to Piraeus for a refit for continued commercial service. The new…