ss norway

[sea-lover]

Some of you have obviously never been on her. Magic defies logic.

[a-tx-brit]

It's so sad...the Norway was such an elegant ship.

I doubt there will be anything like her again.

News item:

 

Pride of Atlantic limps into ships' graveyard

By Sebastien Berger in the Malacca Straits

(Filed: 29/04/2006)

 

 

 

The ship that was once the pride of France's transatlantic passenger fleet lay rusting off the Malaysian coast yesterday, waiting to die.

 

The SS France, the last purpose-built ocean liner and the longest in the world when it was launched by Yvonne de Gaulle, the general's wife, in 1960, is destined for the breakers.

 

 

Rust streaks the hull of the France

Its fate has caused chagrin among enthusiasts and alarm to environmentalists, who say tons of asbestos-contaminated materials on board make dismantling it hazardous.

 

Even when the keel was laid down, aircraft were already carrying more people across the Atlantic than ships could cope with, but the 1,035ft liner took almost 600,000 people between New York and Le Havre in style before being taken out of service in the 1970s.

 

Sold and refurbished as the SS Norway, it was a Caribbean cruise ship until being crippled by a boiler room explosion that killed seven people in Miami three years ago.

 

First the ship was towed to Germany for possible repairs and at the end of last year was taken to Asia. A spokesman for the Malaysian owners, Star Cruises, yesterday confirmed that the craft - now called the Blue Lady - had been sold for breaking.

 

A Bangladeshi ship-breaker, Haji Lokman Hossain, announced that he had bought the vessel for £7.5 million. It is now anchored a few miles off Pulau Carey on Malaysia's west coast, dwarfing passing container ships. The prow rises almost vertically from the placid waters and the superstructure towers 11 storeys high, its distinctive winged funnels visible from shore.

 

But great streaks of rust stain the once-proud blue hull and where thousands of passengers and crew mingled there is not a sign of life.

 

"It's very sad," said Jan-Olav Storli, a Norwegian who travelled as a passenger, then a deck hand, before rising to be one of her navigation officers. "When you sail into the sunrise and look out over that long bow it's an unbelievable experience. Nothing will ever be built like her."

[German]

We just got off NCL Star last week and some crew members told us that the Norway would become a floating hotel in India. Hope they are right.

[Globaliser]

We just got off NCL Star last week and some crew members told us that the Norway would become a floating hotel in India. Hope they are right.

I'd love it if that were true, but all current reports suggest that she will be on the beach in Alang within a month.

[derf5585]

but all current reports suggest that she will be on the beach in Alang within a month.

 

Welcome to Alang, India, where salvage armies use crowbars, torches, and muscle to chew up 50,000-ton ships - until not even a bolt remains.

from

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.08/supertankers.html

[shoreguy]

We just got off NCL Star last week and some crew members told us that the Norway would become a floating hotel in India. Hope they are right.

 

I am affraid she will become part of the support structure for a new hotel in India and not one that is floating:rolleyes:

[cmdchiefthom]

Business is business, and the Norway is simply part of the business of cruising. She's no longer a money maker, and is more a liability. Sad, but true. Treasure your memories of her because that probably will be all who loved her will have left.:(

[Cruising89143]

http://www.maritimematters.com/shipnews.html

 

It is once again being reported on Maritime Matters that the Blue Lady has once again been sold and is expected on the beaches of Alang soon.

[grandma bev]

. Treasure your memories of her because that probably will be all who loved her will have left.:(

 

How right you are! We have many treasured memories of the wonderful jazz cruises of the early '90s, dancing on deck, etc.

[Marmarjudy]

Very sad....my first 7 day cruise was on the Norway in 1993 and truly was the reason for my current addiction to cruising (just finished number 22 in January)

 

She was a real lady and I am so grateful I got to experience the way true cruising used to be.

 

Judy

[Don Haynes]

It appears Star Cruises sold to an intermediary and got less cash than if they sold directly to Alang. Doing so leaves Star Cruises off the abestos hook.