TWI's shipbuilding and naval engineering interests are about to take an unusual turn with the launch of the business's first foray into ship breaking.
In Prague in early May it will be making an active contribution to the Dismantling of Vessels with Enhanced Safety and Technology programme. Known as DIVEST it is a research and technology collaborative project funded by the European Community as part of Framework 7.
Its aim is to provide a global understanding of shipbreaking including its social, technical, economic and environmental impacts. TWI's role is that of dissemination manager and it will also be involved with developing and delivering training.
The project's deliverables include providing a validated risk and economic model of the entire ship dismantling process. A full set of policy recommendations on the optimum recycling and dismantling procedure is to be produced, as well as a tested and validated suite of tailored training programmes.
The DIVEST project is expected to make an immediate and positive contribution to shipbreaking business practices globally. Through case studies, particularly related to shipbreaking in India and Turkey DIVEST has been commissioned to facilitate technological advance and improvement of human and environmental conditions in countries involved in the study.
DIVEST officially started on 1 August last year and is scheduled to last 36 months. The project, which is budgeted to cost 3.4M Euros, is being delivered by an international consortium of twelve partners from nine different countries led by the French marine services consultancy V.Navy.
To learn more about DIVEST visit the website www.divest-project.eu or contact us.