Thursday, March 30, 2006

Chinese Zombie Trawlers


Greenpeace has published a grimly fascinating first-person account of visits to the rusting Chinese 'zombie ships', abandoned pirate fishing boats floating off the West African coast that have been repopulated with crews to (illegally) fish the waters.

These floating wrecks are loaded, supplied and collected from at sea, with 'high value' fish going to Las Palmas in the Canaries to be packaged ready for European clients. The 'dirt' fish goes to Africa.

The ships receive only the most basic of maintenance. They are floating wrecks, haemorrhaging fuel and rotting to the water-line. Their crews are left on them for years at a time. Last year one of the ships sank, taking 14 crew with it.

Click here for the Greenpeace article and more pictures.
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