Almost 96% of the ship - or 11,000 tons of steel, iron and copper - will be converted into reusable goods by May / June 2009.

The ambitious project began in December last year and already half the aft section has been removed.

The Falklands warship, once the HQ for the Royal Navy’s commandos, is seen in the pictures literally as a shell of its former shelf.

The veteran ship once housed almost 1,000 crack troops, 15 tanks and up to four Lynx helicopters. But the UK Ministry of Defense committed itself to sustainable decommissioning in 2007 following an environmental scandal in 2000, when the Royal Navy sold two vessels to a German ship-breaker who then exported them to India. The Ministry of Defense announced in December of 2007 that HMS Intrepid was expected to be recycled at a British Facility.

 

The 520-foot warship was delivered to the Liverpool dock-yard at Canada Dock in September last year. It underwent decontamination of all hazardous material such as asbestos before the main recycling work began. Once identified, the asbestos is removed using qualified and trained personnel and sent for disposal at a licensed local disposal facility in the UK.

 

The majority of materials from HMS Intrepid are totally recyclable, such as anchor chains, the engines and winches. The plastic chairs from the mess room are sent to our licensed recycling agents. Even the metal toilets will be recycled to be used as they were intended or sold on as scrap. The water tight internal doors and two drive propellors have been sold to be re-used in the construction of new ships. Thirty highly trained recycling and demolition experts are working on the recycling job.