How old is too Old for a ship

[peterredd]

I was just down watching the ATHENA 5383304 berth in Esperance Western Australia my home town. A Tourist asked me a little about the ship and i told him that it was built in 1948..He was very surprised and asked me the question How old is to old and i could not answer that..So i pose the question to my fellow spotters..Just how long can the Athena or ships of that vintage keep going...


Cheers..

[Cody Williams]

As long as it can stay within the IMO and other regulations hopefully. Athena is a nice ship. She almost came to Devonport!

[Mateo Posso]

Well it all depends on the use of the ship. If its a navy training ship too old does not apply since, most if not all of them where built between 1930-1960. Besides that, they are sailing ships. However, a merchant's ship lifespan is of twenty years, and they become too old when they turn 40 years old. Supposedly every 20 years more or less a ship should be withdrawn from use but bulkers owners normally used them until the ship becomes 40 years old. I was told this by a pilot, in conclusion a ship becomes too old if its a merchant ship when he is 40 years old, and is considered new until he reaches the age of 10, old 20 super old 40.
My best regards and hope this helps.

[Tuomas Romu]

Athena has been extensively rebuilt over the years, so although she has been built in 1948, I wouldn't necessarily consider her "too old".

As for ships in general, it's hard to say what would be "too old":
- when ships no longer meet the safety requirements (double hull for tankers, SOLAS 2010 for passenger ships...), they can be said to be old;
- tankers, bulkers, container ships and such might have a strictly defined fatigue life, meaning that once they become around 20-25 years old, it might be better to scrap them for safety reasons;
- old ships are generally more expensive to run, so the shipowner might consider them "too old" in light of operating expenses;
- the charterer might have something to say about the age of the ship as well, especially in offshore business and oil transportation;
- a passenger ship might be "outdated" from the passenger's point of view - for example most people prefer to have a bathroom attached to their cabin, and cruise ships with no balconies probably have some problems attracting customers in these days...

And so on.

[Bart Hakze]

in short: it's all a matter of financial economy.

[Tuomas Romu]

I would also say that ships sailing in the oceans become "old" faster than freshwater ships due to corrosion and generally more demanding environment. The operational profile also matters - just like cars, ships that are used a lot wear out faster than ships with less running hours.

The design service life was also mentioned, but one should keep in mind that some ships are designed for longer service than the others. For example an icebreaker might have a design service life of 50 years while a tanker might be scrapped after 20 years.

in short: it's all a matter of financial economy.

In principle yes, but one shouldn't always blame the financial people for retiring a vessel. At some point the ship would require complete rebuilding to keep it seaworthy, and while possible in theory, in reality no-one would actually do that.

As with everything, one should remember the story of grandpa's axe that has had its head changed twice and the handle seven times...

[peterredd]

When i posted this topic i really had in mind a cruise ship when saying how old is to old.. The ATHENA was the ship in question..It doesn't work as hard as a bulker or other ships so i suppose there is no age limit, and how often would the ATHENA be scrutinised....more often than others ??.



cheers