AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
TOULON, France: The asbestos-insulated decommissioned warship Clemenceau began the first stage of its final voyage to an Indian breaker's yard Saturday after a court reportedly ordered the environmental group Greenpeace to keep clear of the ship.
The aircraft carrier left the quai at the Toulon military arsenal without incident, an AFP reporter said, and marine boats set up a 200-meter (-yard) security cordon as a helicopter and a navy plane guarded the skies.
Officials said the carrier would be taken out of the harbor by several tugs, before being towed to Alang in northwestern India, home to the world's biggest ship-breaking yard. It was expected to arrive in India in two months' time.
The Panamanian-registered Ship Decommissioning Industry Corp. said before the ship's departure it had obtained an injunction from the Paris court preventing Greenpeace from approaching closer than 300 meters (yards) to the old aircraft carrier. The claim could not be confirmed with the court.
Greepeace and three other environmentalist groups have tried for months to block the operation, on the grounds that Indian shipyard workers are not properly protected from the hazards of working with asbestos, which can cause fatal lung diseases.
A French court on Friday ruled that the four groups had raised “no serious doubts” about the legality of the Clemenceau's transfer from this Mediterranean port.
Another environmental group, Robin des Bois (Robin Hood), said the French state had taken an important step in carrying out 90 percent of the asbestos decontamination work itself, which it said was a first in European shipping.
The Clemenceau, which took part in the 1991 Gulf War, was taken out of service in 1997 when it was superseded by France's new, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle.
