Archive through October 2009

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Does anyone actually want to see it?<<

I wouldn't mind. So long as it's cool with the people in the photo and the photo is yours to post, go for it.

 

[Ryan Thompson]

Does anyone actually want to see it?

Sure

 

[Rocky Whiteside]

Ok. My grandma said it was okay. I smuged out the faces, though. Can anyone tell me what class this is, where on the ship, etc.?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Tourist class or whatever the equivalant was with that line I suppose. It looks a bit plain but comfortable. (I could be dead wrong too.)

 

[Rocky Whiteside]

Okay. It most likly was. Her cabin was under the water line. She had a porthole that looked out into the the wonderful sea. What a view. It didn't open of course. Haha.

 

[Ellen Grace Butland]

OK Just what Has happened to the Independance? Has she disappeared into some fetid backwater, never to be seen again. I have my suspicions that she has 'passed beyond the gates' (of the scrapyard)

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>I have my suspicions that she has 'passed beyond the gates' (of the scrapyard)<<

The last bit of news was waaaayyyy back in this thread with the ship being towed to God knows where. I suspect you're right about her ultimate fate, but no reporter bothered to take note of it.

 

[Grant Carman]

Michael

Had she landed in Alang or Bangladesh I think Maritime Matters would have found out.

They had posted that the Topaz beached less than 3 hours afterwards, and she did a night run from where she was parked.

Where ever the Independance is, I think that the she has in all likelyhood been stripped, and will beach as a hulk.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Had she landed in Alang or Bangladesh I think Maritime Matters would have found out.<<

Very likely. They've been pretty good about keeping an eye on those places. Makes me wonder if the hulk ended up in some backwater in China.

 

[Ellen Grace Butland]

I would bet that's where she has gone. Far beyond the gates of death, poor old girl. Another little "screw you" by NCL management. At least Carnival is honest about the fate of QE2.

 

[Mark Baber]

The last reports on the Liners List (in late summer/early fall) was that she was somewhere around Dubai for possible use as an accommodation ship for construction workers or conversion into a hotel.

 

[Ryan Thompson]

The last reports on the Liners List (in late summer/early fall) was that she was somewhere around Dubai for possible use as an accommodation ship for construction workers or conversion into a hotel.

I had heard the same thing, that it was in Dubai. This had me hopeful. I hope it happens. Are there any list members who live in that area?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From WTOP:

Md. firms fined $518,000 for exporting toxic ship

Full story at http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1588165

 

[Jason Schleisman]

Gee, shocker. Oceanic's (aka: Independence) "little trip" across the Pacific has proven to be much more expensive then its owners bargained for. Clearly, they were trying to pull a fast one, and failed in their attempt.

Thing is, I wonder what happens to the ship now? Ok, so the fee gets paid, but so what? Like that USA-imposed fine really benefits the foreign workers or protects them from PCB's, etc.

 

[Ryan Thompson]

Did the Independence ever make it to the breakers?

Did anybody save a satelite image of the Independence in SF harbor before it was moved? There's a good chance Google Earth updated and that particular image is no longer available.

At least Carnival is honest about the fate of QE2.
I'd call QE2's a 'retirement' rather than a 'fate'. The France and Independence got death sentences but it sounds like the latter may have wiggled out of it, if the Dubai rumors are true. *crossing fingers*

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Thing is, I wonder what happens to the ship now?<<

Scrap steel and razor blades probably. The people in Alang don't care an awful lot about what a U.S. court decides.

>>Did the Independence ever make it to the breakers?<<

Good question. Had she turned up at Alang, I would think that Martin Cox or one of his sources there would have noticed, and you would have seen something posted on Maritime Matters or Midship Century. The yards in Pakistan don't look to be as well covered and if she went to a Chinese breaker, the ship would have vanished down that rathole without anybody being told.

 

[Grant Carman]

Michael

She also could have landed in Bangladesh without being noticed.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>She also could have landed in Bangladesh without being noticed.<<

True. Plenty of places out there where nobody notices, cares, or asks too many questions.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From DNAIndia:

Toxic US ship with dubious distinction sneaks into Alang

quote:

Bhavnagar: The Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) has sought a detailed report from the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) and Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) about an American ship allegedly carrying hazardous toxic waste including radioactive substances, which touched Alang without intimating authorities.

More at http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_toxic-us-ship-with-dubious-distinction-sneaks-into-alang_1298731

Comment: Guess what ship this is????

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Indian Express:

Ship awaiting clearance for Alang in danger of sinking

quote:

The 18,503-tonne passenger ship Platinum II, on its way to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard in Bhavnagar, is in danger of sinking, endangering the lives of eight crew members on board a tug, besides posing a threat to environment.

More at http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ship-awaiting-clearance-for-alang-in-danger-of-sinking/528742/​