Ex-cruise ship sails into India controversy
Justices to review if asbestos removal can be done safely
The Blue Lady, previously known as the SS France and SS Norway,
is seen anchored off the Indian coast on Friday.
Updated: 12:55 p.m. ET June 30, 2006
AHMADEBAD, India - The
famed ocean liner SS France arrived Friday in Indian waters, where
efforts to scrap the rusty vessel are being held up over concerns that
the toxic asbestos on board will be disposed of improperly.
The ship — now renamed
the Blue Lady — was towed from Malaysia to the Pipavav Port on India's
southwest coast, maritime officials said. It will remain in the port
pending a Supreme Court committee's review of whether the 46,000 ton
ship can be dismantled safely.
If approved, it will
be brought to the ship-breaking yard of Alang, about 40 miles north of
Pipavav, where an estimated 900 tons of asbestos will be removed before
workers dismantle the luxury liner.
"We will cooperate with authorities to perform
all the formalities as required by the court," said Rajiv Reniwal, whose
company, Haryana Shipbreakers, has purchased the ship. "Once we get the
necessary clearance, we will take it to Alang shipbreaking yard for
beaching."
Greenpeace and other
environmental groups went to court earlier this month in a failed bid to
keep the ship out of India, claiming the asbestos and other toxic
materials will sicken workers and taint the coastal environment.
It was earlier turned
away from Bangladesh because of environmental concerns.
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 in Asia, supplying scrap steel and other materials to a
region hungry for industrial materials. But critics say its workers,
often poor migrants from the countryside, face death, dismemberment or
slow poisoning from toxins, gas explosions and falling hunks of steel.
Considered one of the
last great trans-Atlantic ocean liners, the SS France was launched in
1962. During its illustrious career, the ship carried the likes of
artist Salvador Dali, his pet ocelot and the Mona Lisa to an exhibition
in the United States.
It was renamed the SS
Norway in 1979 and become a popular cruise ship in the Caribbean. But a
boiler explosion in 2003 spelled the end of its luxury liner career,
forcing its last owner, Star Cruises, to sell it for scrap — much to the
dismay of supporters, who have called for it to be preserved as a
floating museum or hotel. |
