Why do ships have so much asbestos?

Question

I see this in the news often when old ships retiring or being scrapped comes up. Why are ships so full of toxic / asbestos material, compared to other typical industrial things?

In: 5

Answer 1

Because fire aboard is absolute worst case scenario for a ship at sea. The long-term ill effects of asbestos were historically considered acceptable as a trade-off to reduce the much more immediate threat of a fire spreading aboard that could result in trapped crew members, explosions, or an order to abandon ship.

Edit: I should’ve explained: asbestos is a very effective fire-retardant.