Norway cleared for breakers

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL287962.htm

NEW DELHI, May 12 2006(Reuters) - India's Supreme Court refused on Friday to
stop a former cruise liner that environmental activists say has hundreds of
tonnes of toxic material on board from entering Indian waters.

Greenpeace and other groups say the 46,000-tonne Blue Lady(Norway) contains
more than 900 tonnes of asbestos and is sailing for Alang in the western
state of Gujarat to be scrapped.

Indian yards lack the modern technology to safely handle such waste, putting
the health of workers at risk, activists say.

The court instead referred the matter to an expert panel appointed by it
earlier this year to look into the working conditions at Alang, home to
scores of family-run shipbreakers.

"We will not pass any (banning) orders without a report," a judge said after
hearing a plea by the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and
Environment.

The court set the next hearing for July, when it would consider the evidence
of experts, but environmental groups say the Blue Lady was expected to enter
Indian waters in late May after setting sail from Malaysia.

In February, the French government recalled a mothballed aircraft carrier
containing tonnes of asbestos, and being readied for scrapping at the
Gujarat yards, after protests and court action led by Greenpeace.

"It is so unfortunate the government has failed to find a comprehensive
solution to the problems of the ship-breaking industry that impact on
workers' health," Ramapati Kumar, a Greenpeace campaigner said.

Thousands of workers in the ship-breaking industry in countries such as
India, China and Pakistan had probably died over the past two decades in
accidents or exposure to toxic waste, a Greenpeace report published in
December said.

The Blue Lady, which entered service in 1962 under a different name, was
owned by Malaysia's Star Cruises Ltd when a boiler room explosion killed
seven of its crew in May 2003.

and;

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Science/...f-1576770.html
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - After sliding down the gangway in 1960, the SS
France became one of the last great trans-Atlantic ocean liners, carrying
the likes of artist Salvador Dali - and his pet ocelot - and taking the Mona
Lisa to an exhibition in the United States.

Today, the rust-streaked ship is headed to an ignoble end at a wrecking yard
in India - and a role as the latest symbol for health and environmental
activists who are raising concerns about the safety of the long-ignored
salvage business.

Activists contend the once-grand liner is full of asbestos and other toxic
materials that will endanger the workers who will break it apart from stem
to stern at one of the nautical graveyards dotting the shores of south Asia.

Similar protests in February led French authorities to cancel the
dismantling of the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau in India after
revelations that it also was loaded with asbestos and other substances now
banned in the West.

Ship-breaking is a major business, supplying scrap steel and other materials
to a region hungry for industrial materials. But critics say its workers,
often poor migrants, face death or dismemberment from toxins, gas explosions
and falling hunks of steel.

Port officials in Malaysia, where the France had been anchored in recent
months, confirmed Tuesday that the ship had pulled up anchor and was being
towed by a pair of tugs toward the shipwrecking centre of Alang on India's
west coast.

Nazir Kaliwala, who owns International Shipping Co. in India, said he bought
the ship for $14.4 million US and sold it to a ship-breaking company in
Alang that he refused to identify. He said he expected the ship to arrive in
a month.

The environmental group Greenpeace protested the move. The liner "carries
over 900 metric tons of asbestos and is contaminated with other toxic
material," said Rampati Kumar, a Greenpeace campaigner.

India's Environment Ministry had no comment.

The France never had it easy. It entered service in 1962, just as jet
airliners started to become the primary mode of crossing the Atlantic.

Still, the liner was one of the fastest passenger ships and stretched 315
metres - so long it couldn't fit into the locks of the Panama Canal. Its
avant-garde design, winding staircase, tuxedo-clad diners and fine cuisine
came to symbolize luxury on the high seas.

The wife of French President Charles de Gaulle was on hand for the maiden
voyage and the France travelled between Europe and New York hundreds of
times.

"She was definitely a trendsetter," said Allan Jordan, a maritime historian
who sailed on the France in the 1980s. "There were only a handful of ships
that could give her competition. At this point, there are very few of them
left."

But the France needed subsidies to stay in business, and the government cut
off the aid in 1974. Its owner, the Compagnie General Transatlantique,
retired the ship in 1974.

It was sold to an Arab sheik who talked of turning it into a floating museum
before Norwegian Cruise Lines bought the liner in 1979.

That company rechristened the ship the SS Norway and spent nearly $80
million converting it into a pleasure cruiser with outdoor swimming pools
and sun decks. For two decades, the Norway took 2,000 passengers at a time
on weekly trips in the Caribbean.

In 2000, the liner was acquired by Star Cruises. It got a new name last
year - Blue Lady - but it hadn't carried passengers since a boiler explosion
killed eight crewmen in 2003.

Repairs proved too costly to keep the ship in service. Star Cruises recently
confirmed that the ship had been sold, but refused to provide details.

Bangladesh, another ship-breaking centre, ruled in February that the liner
couldn't be broken up in that country until it was decontaminated - a
procedure which has not yet been carried out.

Supporters in recent years set up websites devoted to saving the France.
Some had sailed on the ship 50 times. Others met their spouses aboard. They
suggested transforming it into a floating hotel, casino or hospital and even
petitioned the U.S. Congress for help.

All efforts were unsuccessful.

"Sadly, there are so many things stacked against her at the moment that
there is little hope for a future where she can be at sea where she
belongs," said Devon Scott, the ship's former historian.