Caught Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

October 2019

After several months of study and research, we became the proud owners of the MV Victor Hensen upon its return from a voyage from Denmark. She is a 40-meter ship built in 1974 which sailed until then in the North Sea, to carry out oceanographic research missions. She takes her name from the German biologist Victor Hensen, to whom we owe the discovery of plankton. We renamed her MV Plastic Odyssey and gave her a French flag. This ship seemed to be THE ONE for our expedition: large crew capacity, versatility of spaces, very low fuel consumption… And above all, we had a certificate guaranteeing the absence of asbestos on board.

February 2020

First rebound. We found out this certificate was a fake: as soon as the shipyard work started, asbestos was found on board. The crew disembarked immediately and the ship was quarantined. In the middle of winter, in the cold and rainy port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, and in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis, the first phase of asbestos removal began on the ship. First of a (too) long series, but we didn’t know it yet.

Summer 2020

We then launched the next phase of work to transform the ship into a floating recycling laboratory. The MV Plastic Odyssey was transported to the Damen shipyard in Dunkirk to build the new deck that, once positioned on the stern, would house the recycling workshop. Inside, a second asbestos removal was carried out to remove all traces of asbestos on board and to put an end to this risk once and for all.

Winter 2020/2021

Asbestos removal is completed, leaving the ship bare: no more bulkheads, no more bridge equipment… an almost empty hull that must be completely refitted. But new measurements of the hull thickness revealed some weaknesses that could not be detected before the removal of all bulkheads. We undertook several boiler repairs, to give a new life to this ship – working as much on the substance as on the form. The construction work continued to intensify on what was already a very busy calendar.

March 2021

Hope was reborn. After months of hard work, the ship came out of dry dock proudly displaying the Plastic Odyssey colors. The work should be completed in a few months. The team started to prepare and plan the first stops of the expedition, to begin at the end of summer.

July 2021

The mandatory inspections are validated. At the end of August, the ship should leave for the Tour de France. One last repair on a ballast ceiling and the ship would be ready to go!

August 2021

This latest repair gives a glimpse of the catastrophic condition of a ballast tank that had not been examined in the nearly 50 years of the ship’s life. The structure may be damaged. Time was suspended – the departure would not take place on August 27.

September 2021

The decision was made to totally redo the defective ballast. It would take months to find another shipyard, as the busy dry docks in Dunkirk could no longer take on the new work. With the help of our partners, we reviewed possible next steps to move forward, despite the storm. All tracks were then explored. All tracks were then explored.

October 2021

We made the decision to entrust our vessel to a shipyard in Saint Nazaire, to carry out the necessary repairs. The crew began preparing to bring the boat from Dunkirk to Saint Nazaire, with transfer planned for the end of November. We will soon share this journey on our social networks.