Jhon D'oh on CDR Salamander

[Jhon D'oh]

I recently went through a S/Y period for a 30 yo vessel and am currently working on a 15 yo vessel yard period. These are both commercial vessels but the amount of steel replaced on the 30 vessel was extensive. It was partially driven by the fact an engineer dropped a strainer the size of a water glass and holed the vessel on the port. Then a couple of months later the hull spontaneously failed at the same frame on the stbd side. Old vessels are OLD. The hulls are suffering metal fatigue, the plate is thinning from rust and wear, and wiring runs are choked with old wire that may or may not be attached to anything but is certainly prone to failure at the worst possible time (ie combat). If one was to plan for extended life hulls and build accordingly that's one thing but most of the current force is old and was never intended to be kept in service for 50 years.

[MRT’s Haircut]

Vessels that appear to be prime and less than a couple of decades old go to the breakers precisely due to what you describe. Without a deck crew to constantly maintain and without a yard period to fox basics such as steerage and thru hulls, it’s often cheaper to sink the costs in new builds and buy new.