Which organisation is using a robot arm for shipbreaking?
Leviathan GmbH, a German company, uses robotics to take apart big ships for recycling. They have a big robot arm with a strong waterjet that cuts the steel and easily takes apart ships.
The company plans to use many robots to take apart even bigger ships so they can recycle the steel. This is the company's prototype robot, similar to the ones used to build cars. ANT AG, another German company, has made the waterjet. It sprays a mix of water and sand at high pressure to cut the steel.
Leviathan GmbH has agreed to open a ship recycling place in the city of Stralsund, Germany. They'll use electricity, not fossil fuels, to power the place. They'll send the steel on electric trains to factories across Europe, creating less pollution.
What do we know about the shipbreaking industry?
The shipbreaking industry helps get rid of old ships. They break the ships into parts that can be recycled. But it's a dangerous job with many accidents, injuries, and sickness.
There are few safety checks, and workers must do their jobs in dangerous places. They also don't have the right safety gear and training. Shipbreaking is also bad for the environment. It puts a lot of pollutants in the ground and water near the coast. The workers get sick, too.
Shipbreaking hurts the environment, the local population, fishing, farming, etc., as the places where they do it don't have good ways to deal with waste and pollution.
What are the advantages of using robotics in the shipbreaking industry?
When big ships are no longer needed and need to be taken apart, workers often use machines that run on fossil fuels. But now, the robotic arm can make the shipbreaking work cleaner and safer.
These robots can do the job faster and use less fossil fuel, which is better for the environment. Workers in this job often have to deal with pollutants and dangerous workplaces. The robotic arm can help make things safer.
But there are still some problems to solve. The industry must handle water pollutants properly. Special places to collect the pollutants must be built, hazardous items on board a ship must be handled safely, and proper rules should be followed.
Leviathan GmbH's facility in Stralsund will have a special area to collect and clean the water used in the shipbreaking process. This water can be decontaminated and reused for cutting.
