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www.leGlaneur.info in french...

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LeGlaneur...

This from Fairplay daily news:

NORWEGIAN Cruise Line’s SS Norway is still at anchor off Port Klang, Malaysia, awaiting its final voyage to breakers. The owner - Genting subsidiary Star Cruises - is believed to be finding it difficult to secure a buyer in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The row over the proposed demolition of the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau at Alang scrapyard in India has discouraged prospective buyers. Environmental groups have threatened action if Clemenceau is scrapped because of the presence of asbestos onboard. The 1961-built Norway is said to contain 1,250 tonnes of material with asbestos content. Norway has been given a new name, Blue Lady, but Star Cruises declined to comment on speculation that the ship’s name has been changed to avoid attracting attention if and when it proceeds to a demolition yard.

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Admin for reefer ships category

Unfortunately, the renaming to such an innocuous name seems like an attempt to lower the "profile" of the ship to avoid large protests when she is sold for scrap. I sincerely hope I am wrong, and the investor group in Europe will be able to raise the necessary funds to bring France/Norway to service as a static restaurant/hotel/museum. That seems to be the only viable alternative to scrapping. I hope this proud ship can be preserved.

Charles

There has been reports here in Australia that there is a business man with the money to buy the Norway or as she is now known as the Blue Lady but requires Star to either change the Contract to enable the scappers agent to sell it to him or cancel the Contract all together.

I would have thought that Star would be glad to 'Off load' Norway/Blue Lady at any cost. Thus saving more 'hassle' for them.

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regards Glencairn

NCL stated that she did not fit into the desired operations. I would have thought that the Norway/Blue Lady would have been a more economicle repair/Refit that the united states?

Glenn,

The unique asset of United States is that she is a US flagged ship, thus able to call on one US port directly from another. NCL stated that their plan for United States was to rebuild her for intra Hawaii or California-Hawaii service. Although they were able to "reflag" one of their other ships, that was seemingly a one time event, so any expansion of cruises within the US, including Hawaii, will depend on rebuilding United States. It's still not a certainty, but smart marketing would emphasize the ship's history and speed records to build a following. It could be a very profitable venture. I hope a similar case could be made for France/Norway in Europe, even as a static hotel/museum.

Regards,

Charles