MV ''BBC China'' was a general

cargo vessel A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

constructed in China that was completed in 2000. The ship was initially named ''Beluga Superstition'', being renamed in 2002. The vessel gained notoriety after it was caught carrying

gas centrifuge A gas centrifuge is a device that performs isotope separation of gases. A centrifuge relies on the principles of centrifugal force accelerating molecules so that particles of different masses are physically separated in a gradient along the radi ...

s for

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weakly ...

enrichment to Libya in 2003. In 2004, the vessel ran aground off the coast of South Africa. The wreck was subsequently demolished with explosives.

Description

''BBC China'' was a cargo ship measured at and . The vessel was long overall and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the stern ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

of . The ship was powered by a

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

turning one

shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around wh ...

. ''BBC China'' had a maximum speed of .

Construction and career

The cargo ship's

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in B ...

was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

at Qingshan Shipyard in

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...

, China on 28 February 2000. While under construction the ship was named ''Beluga Superstition''. The vessel was launched on 4 November 2000 and was completed on 4 July 2001. On 1 October 2002, the ship was renamed ''BBC China''. ''BBC China'' was operated by Beluga Shipping GMBH of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...

, Germany, and

flagged Flagging may refer to: *Running out of time on a chess clock *Flagging (tape), a colored non-adhesive tape used in marking objects * Flagging (shipping) of a merchant vessel under the laws of a flag state *The activities of a flagger (disambiguat ...

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Ba ...

& Barbuda. In October 2003 the ship was diverted to Italy while carrying

s and nuclear components for

enrichment from

Scomi Precision Engineering Syarikat Scomi Precision Engineering Sdn Bhd (SCOPE) was established under the Scomi group of companies controlled by Kamaluddin Abdullah, a businessman who is the son of former Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. On 4 February 2004, ...

and

A. Q. Khan Abdul Qadeer Khan, (; ur, ; 1 April 1936 – 10 October 2021), known as A. Q. Khan, was a Pakistani nuclear physicist and metallurgical engineer. He was a key figure in Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program and is colloquially known as the ...

Khan Research Laboratories The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, ( ur, ) or KRL for short, is a federally funded, multi-program national research institute and national laboratory site primarily dedicated to uranium enrichment, supercomputing and fluid mechanics. It ...

via

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

to Libya. With the aid of the German shipping company and the German government, the vessel was redirected to Italy where US government personnel boarded the vessel and discovered the centrifuges, which had not been on the vessel's manifest. ''BBC China'', while sailing from

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, South Africa to Spain, ran aground near

Port Grosvenor Port Grosvenor was a harbour on the Wild Coast in South Africa, near the spot where the Indiaman ''Grosvenor'' was wrecked in 1782. It was only in use in 1885 and 1886. History The construction of Port Grosvenor was initiated by Captain Sidney ...

at on 16 October 2004. The vessel was declared

constructive total loss Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance is the sub-branch o ...

and subsequently demolished with explosives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:BBC China Maritime incidents in 2003 Maritime incidents in 2004 2000 ships Ships built in Wuhan Nuclear proliferation Cargo ships of Antigua and Barbuda Nuclear technology in Libya

Description

Construction and career

See also

References