The nuclear ro-ro carrier Atlantic Osprey, which has been laid up at Ramsden Dock in Barrow-in-Furness since her withdrawal in December 2013, left the port in mid-August bound for Swansea dry dock, where she is to be cut up and recycled.
Atlantic Osprey was built in 1986 as Alster Rapid for North Sea service, with now defunct Washbay Line operating between King’s Lynn, Grangemouth and Hamburg. The 3,793gt vessel, which has been owned by UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) subsidiary International Nuclear Services (INS) since 2001 for carriage of MOX fuel and other used reactor fuels and radioactive materials, departed Barrow under the tow of the Dutch anchor-handling tug Graceland (ex-Neptun 11).
By choosing to have Atlantic Osprey recycled in a dry dock rather than afloat, INS will be able to employ more effective cleaning and recycling techniques, allowing around 95 per cent of the vessel to be recycled.
