The final journey for BLUE LADY is to the beaches of Alang The liner better known as NORWAY and FRANCE has her fate sealed by India Supreme Court
The fate of one of the world's best-loved and most iconic liners has been sealed.
The Indian Supreme Court has ruled that the scrapping of the BLUE LADY, ex NORWAY, ex FRANCE, can go ahead, despite admissions that the ship contains toxic materials such as asbestos.
The ship's final months have been dogged with controversy.
She was towed towards Alang amidst a fierce international and Indian row over whether or not she should be scrapped there. In May 2006 petitioners filed an application to the Supreme Court of India asking the court to ensure the vessel complied with international law, and the Court's own orders of 2003, before it was permitted to be beached and broken up at Alang. The Gujarat Maritime Pollution board banned the ship from entering Indian waters.
The following month the Supreme Court ruled that permission had to be given to allow the vessel safe anchorage in Indian waters pending any further decisions, because to allow her to wander the oceans would not exactly be the wisest option for an old ship that might have to battle a monsoon or two.
Although she now had permission to enter Indian waters, she instead was towed on the 13th June to Fujairah in the UAE. One of her tugs puts in for repairs there. She left the port on the 17th and (bear in mind she did not have permission yet to be beached), heads for Pipavav Port, a distance of 65 km from Alang itself, and drops anchor.
After much inspections and reports the ship was finally given the green light to be ran onto the Alang beaches and on August 15th 2006 the old lady finally reaches the graveyard and is partly beached.
The wrangles continued from then on throughout the rest of 2006
This year, despite being a main objector in the previous year, the Gujarat Pollution Board in a report to the court this month said that any attempts now to float her about again would be very costly and unwise, therefore, India was quite literally stuck with her and they would have to continue with dismantling no matter what objections were raised.
Objectors protest though that the scrapping of the vessel is hazardous to Indian workers. Thousands of them literally tear the ships apart with their bare hands, mostly without any form of protection. Asbestosis is said to be rife amongst Alang's shipbreaking crews.
Despite these concerns the BLUE LADY now looks certain to join the fate of hundreds of other vessels, dragged up the beach and reduced to scrap.
An ignominious end to one of the world's most beautiful liners ever.
