Norway [France]

[raflucgr]

__________________________________________________ _______________
Blue Lady’ gets Supreme Court nod for entering India
New Delhi, June 05: Upsetting environmentalists, the Supreme Court today permitted one of the world`s longest ocean liners, S S Norway, popularly known as `Blue Lady`, to enter India to be dismantled in Gujarat.

On May 10, a lawyer associated with an NGO, Research Foundation for Science and Technology, had asked Supreme Court appointed high-level committee of technical experts on ship breaking to take urgent action to stop the Norwegian ship, allegedly carrying toxic materials, from entering Indian waters.

The ship, he said, contained 1,250 tonnes of asbestos, twice the quantity that was in Clemenceau. The ship was earlier on its way to Bangladesh but was refused entry.

The massive cruise ship is now headed towards Alang ship breaking yard in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat from Malaysia. Environment watchdog Green Peace had earlier raised alarm saying that the ship has three times more toxic material like asbestos than the decommissioned French warship Le Clemenceau.
__________________________________________________ ________
source :Bureau Report

[raflucgr]

June 8, 2006: I am delighted to present several news items, as seen below. These are I relation to three companies/organisations who are currently negotiating to purchase SS Blue Lady, Norway, France.

Project 1 - SS France in Dubai - U.A.E

There is a major project under way for SS France (Blue Lady, Norway) to be refitted and relocated to Dubai, U.A.E. This project deserves our support in every possible way!

The newly formed company has a set of principles which will see the ex SS Norway fully refurbished and renamed SS France once again. All estimates for her conversion have been done by experts and obviously they are significant. Besides the obtaining, refurbishing there is also a major dockside investment involved.

With the spectacular City of Dubai having become THE place to visit, I know that as the SS France she will be successful as a quality hotel, shopping, dinning, and French Cultural Center and Maritime museum.

SS France is one of the most beautiful and significant ships ever built, let us get behind this project, and should all go well and she is completed, I ask that we all will support her by visiting the spectacular Dubai and stay onboard SS France.

You might ask "is this just another last minute attempt that will go down like all others?” Knowing the people behind this project, this is not just a hair brain idea but one that is fully backed by big business.

There is more to come, thus return to this page often for further developments.

Project 2 - Hotel SS France in Asia

This is yet another project by a large UK/Asia based company. The Managing Director is currently meeting with the ships owners negotiating the price. I am sorry, but I am not able to announce any details at this stage.

Knowing that there are two viable projects under way, there is a good chance of the magnificent ship being saved and becoming a major attraction in Dubai or another location in Asia.

Project 3 – Hotel SS Norway in Europe

Another project is located in Europe, details confidential at this stage, and I hope it is a viable one!

source: SS maritime

[raflucgr]

news about France, here:http://www.ssmaritime.com/newsupdates2.htm

[raflucgr]

Hello

Here are the last news about the SS blue Lady(ex Norway and France); she was towed until Fujerah (120km from Dubai), she arrived there on 13th june 2006, at this moment we could think that the idea to see the ship scrapped was war, and the interests coming from Dubai bought it, but finally on 15th june 2006, she left Fujerah under tow, the destination is Alang.

[raflucgr]

hi to all of you

I have a sad new

Report: Ship-breakers in India disabled by asbestos 6 septembre 2006

Almost one in every six workers dismantling old boats at India's Alang shipyard suffers from asbestos poisoning, experts said in a report sure to fuel criticism of an industry long dogged by charges of unsafe working conditions.
The experts, appointed by India's Supreme Court to look into conditions at Alang, also found a fatal accident rate six times that of the country's notoriously unsafe mining industry.
International and local environmental and labor groups have for years urged Indian authorities to sharply curtail — or simply stop — the work being done at the yard, where old ships are run aground in the shallows just offshore and then dismantled largely by hand.
The dangers faced by the 5,000 workers at the yard on the shores of the Gulf of Cambay in the western state of Gujarat were spotlighted in February when protests by environmental groups forced the French and Indian governments to call off plans for the decommissioned French aircraft carrier Clemenceau to be broken up at Alang.
The environmentalists said the ship was filled with up to 1,000 tons of asbestos, along with other toxic waste.
The expert committee, appointed by the Supreme Court during the controversy over the Clemenceau, found 16 percent of the workers at Alang suffer from an early stage of asbestosis — an irreversible lung condition that could lead to lung cancer, according to the Indian Express, which obtained a copy of the unpublished report.
"In ships brought for breaking, free asbestos is usually present as thermal insulation of boilers and floor tiles. When this asbestos is removed, its particles become airborne and attack the lungs," the report said, according to the paper.
It normally took more than 10 years for full-blown asbestosis to develop, but its onset is hastened with higher levels of exposure, the report said.
The Express said the report was given to the Supreme Court last week, but neither court officials nor members of the expert committee were immediately available for comment Wednesday.
However, a member of India's Ban Asbestos Network of India, Gopal Krishna, said he had seen the report and could confirm the account given in the Express.
The network earlier this year filed a petition with the Supreme Court to stop another ship, a former cruise liner known as the Blue Lady, from being broken at Alang.
But the court said the dismantling of the Blue Lady, formerly the S.S. France, could go ahead.
The Gujarat Maritime Board, which oversees Alang, has told Greenpeace that 372 workers have died there since the ship-breaking industry first started being developed in 1982.
But Greenpeace and the International Federation of Human Rights say, based on worker interviews, that the number could be as high as 50 to 60 deaths a year.
Old ships are not broken up in the West because they are full of dangerous materials, including asbestos, that would not pass health standards.
That has made Asia — where regulations are often lax or nonexistent — a cheap alternative.
India once led the industry, but breakers here say they are losing business to neighboring Bangladesh.
In both countries, the breaking is done largely by uneducated migrants who are given little safety training or equipment, and earn only a dollar or two a day — a pittance in the West but twice as much as they could make in the villages and towns where they come from.

source: obs.com

[AegeanIslands]

Ενα απο τα λιγα πλοια με τετοια Ιστορια και Θαυμαστες,
που οσοι το εχουν κοιταξει εχουν μαγευτει ειναι το περιβοητο-συγχωρεμενο
M/S NORWAY ex. TSS FRANCE
NORWAY.jpg

[Νικόλας]

Κατα την γνώμη μου το καλύτερο liner είναι το norway βοβερό σκαρί με τέλεια κοψίματα και τα πήγενε πολύ καλά όταν συναντούσε καιρό στα τεράστια ταξίδια του.Επίσης να πω ότι η ταχύτητά του έφτανε τους 30 κόμβους εκπληκτική αν σκεφτήτε οτι τα έπιανε πριν 10με15 χρόνια.Να κ μερικές φότο και ως norway k os france.
NORWAY
Norway-01-Klosters-2[1].jpg
FRANCE
france-001[1].jpg
ΜΙΑ ΠΡΙΝ ΜΑΣ ΧΑΙΡΕΤΙΣΕΙ
A05-oct[1].jpg

[Finnpartner_1966]

Σε καποια μετασκευη, του αφαιρεσανε τις 2 απο τις 4 τουρμπινες, ετσι το πλοιο δουλευε με τις 2 προπελες. Παρολα αυτα, επιανε 20+ μιλια! Χαμενο πηγε αυτο... Οι Γαλλοι το φτιαξανε σε μια εποχη που το υπερωκεανειο εχανε.... Εδω δεν τα πηγε καλα το United States, που δουλεψε 10 χρονια πιο πολυ.... Το 1969 του κοψανε την κρατικη επιδοτηση. Το France παροπλιστηκε το 1974. Πιο τυχερο απο το US, δουλεψε, εστω και σαν κρουαζιεροπλοιο για 30 ακομα χρονια. Το αλλο σαπιζει στο Newport...

[raflucgr]

Hello here are some sad pictures of the SS Blue Lady at Alang.


source: maritime matters

norway20080120a.jpg

norway20080120b.jpg

[Ellinis]

Δυστηχώς η διάλυση προχωράει και ήδη χάθηκε και η γέφυρα του πλοίου, όπως φαίνεται και σε αυτή τη φωτο.

Photo copyright www.midshipcentury.com Peter Knego 2008