What got me is the scrapping I saw was mostly by hand. Chisel and hammer over and over.

The old Italian Lines "Michaelangelo" was broken up there as well, while sister "Raffaello" apparently still sits in the muck where she was burned by Iraqi air force rockets during the war with Iran. And yes, all the breaking up is done with hand tools and muscle, which makes it so fascinating, while at the same time, deathly evil and sad. The liners are even hauled up onto the mud flat at high tide by scores of men, women, and children, pulling hawsers. The deaths from poisonings, lung disease, and dismemberment are the stuff of horror films. The toxic chemicals come ashore on the tide and people wade into the pools lingering in sliced open tanks. There is a video you can purchase called "The Road to Alang", plus plenty of documentation online as well. In Alang, when bellies are hungry and people are plentiful, life is cheap. For those of us who are interested in ships and the like, it's like a car accident you can't look away from, repeating itself over and over and over....

Supposedly, there have been some "improvements" in the working conditions at Alang in recent years, though I'm sure they're largely a token gesture toward the first-world countries that send their ships there to ensure future business. Seeing that these behemoth ships are disassembled by hand, we shouldn't wonder when shopping-cart-scrappers and park vandals inflict serious damage on precious preserved (but comparatively small) rail equipment with their bare hands.

I saw a show on TV about that location and how ships were broken up. The first step is the yard's Captain guids the ship in by radio by telling the ship's captain the correct speed and course. They put the ship on the beach right in between two other ships! They shut down all engines and the ship's crew leave for the last time. Then the yard workers swarm the vessel by first taking off all removable stuff, bedding, pictures, fixtures, etc. Then the cutting begins. As the ship gets shorter, it is drug farther up on the beach. When it is all said and done, they have many women who comb throgh the sand and pickup whatever is left. Then they direct the next ship into that location and the process begins all over again.

Later!
Mr. Ed

Alan,

If you mean operation as well as preservation the two Liberty Ships are indeed the largest operational museum ships in the world.

There are two Victory ship that operate frequently; the Lan victory in San Pedro and the American Victory in Tampa, FL. Here is Richmond, CA the Red Oak Victory is working toward operation.

There are hundreds of static displays around the country including about 50 world War II Navy ships from PT boats to Battleships and Air Craft Carriers on static display.

I have at San Francisco Maritime National Park a fleet of six vessels over 100 feet long and many small craft.

The South Street Seaport Museum and the
Mystic Seaport Museum back East each have several large ships on display. and small craft as well.

The newest museum ship is the USS Midway an air craft carrier now on display in San Diego, CA. All 900 feet of her; thats a lot of gray paint!

Ted Miles

Hi Ted,

For this purpose I was referring specifically to the operational museum ships.