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SS Norway sold for US$12mil
By SHARIDAN M.ALI
Cruise liner SS Norway, once the longest in the world, has been sold for US$12mil to a Bangladeshi businessman.
The vessel, which has been anchored off Port Klang since Aug 10, is now finding ways to sail to Bangladesh.
According to India based ZeeNews International Edition dated Feb 15, the 11-deck high ship was purchased by scrap merchant Lokman Hossain.
The buyer is now having a challenging time taking the ship to his scrap yard in Chittagong because the Bangladesh Government had blocked the vessel from being demolished there as feared the ship’s content would pose a health hazard to workers.
Owing to the health hazard it posed ship breaking workers, Bangladesh Environment and Forest Minister Tariqul Islam had said that they had issued a ban on the ship's entering Bangladesh territory.
According to Greenpeace, SS Norway is among the 50 ships on their watch list that needs to be decontaminated before being demolished as it contains 1,250 tonnes of asbestos containing materials.
It is not known immediately what will happen to the legendary 43-year-old cruise liner following the new developments.
Star Cruises, which had owned the vessel through the Norwegian Cruise Line had attributed that the sale could be due to the losses it had incurred since 2004.
In a press release, Star Cruise posted an impairment loss on SS Norway of US$14.5mil in 2004.
Last year, again the ship brought an impairment loss reversal of US$1.3mil.
Other than it being demolished, there are also talks that the ship could be turned into a floating hotel or training ship since it carries historical values and majestic interiors.
The Marine Department and Department of Environment of Malaysia are keeping a close watch on the vessel to ensure it does not pose any pollution and threat to the environment.
[ 03-20-2006: Message edited by: Deck 9 001 ]
Mike
I'd be sad to see her go, but c'est la vie. I rather have her end misery now, then decay as a floating amusment ship.
[ 03-20-2006: Message edited by: Ernst ]
quote:viking109 wrote:According to another forum this is old news and the ship is still owned by NCL/Star. The Norway is also still listed for sale on the tug-barge website ( www.tug-barge.com)But who knows, NCL and Star are so incredibly secretive about everything apart of course from whatever their latest floating white box is.
See: SS NORWAY, floating hotel or training ship?
******
Cheers
quote:Originally posted by Garnett: I think this is the sale that was canceled due to the asbestos outcry.
I hope so.
Well said, Linerdan. I'm expecting her to be won in a game of poker or toss of a coin any day.
From Piet Sinke's daily column of March 25th, 2006:
Norway Sold - Again
A story in today's online edition of the Star newspaper reports that the Norway, former flagship of Norwegian CruiseLine, has been sold to a Bangladeshi businessman for $12 million dollars. If true, this will be the second time the shiphas been sold within the past three months.Back in January, the ship's owner, NCL-parent Star Cruises announced the ship had been sold and was headed for ascrap yard in Chittagong. That plan took an unexpected turn when Star learned that it might be subject to significantenvironmental-related fines if the ship was broken up because she still contained more than 3,000 tons of asbestos.Environmental groups have for a long time been targeting the ship breaking activities in India and Pakistan claimingthat the largely manual process of scrapping a ship releases hazardous materials into the environment. Most recently,they joined local groups to seek a court order in an attempt to block the scrapping of the former French aircraft carrierClemenceau.Sources have indicated that fines related to the large amount of asbestos on board could range as high as $10 million.Those of you that have been following this saga from the beginning may remember that sceptics claimed Star'sannouncement that it was moving the ship from Germany to Asia last year to become part of a resort was nothingmore than a way for the company to dodge European environmental laws.
While the sale announced today has all the earmarkings of a sale for scrap, it is not clear how the new owner willovercome the asbestos-related issues. Following the uproar in January, the Bangladesh Environment and ForestMinister issued an order preventing the ship from entering Bangladesh territory.It is possible, although unlikely, that the new owner will attempt to convert the ship into a hotel or resort facility. Atthis point however, there is no indication that this is part of the plan.
go see www.savessnorway.com. A canadian, Émanuel Huard, try to buy the ship for bring it back to its true utility, cruising. He alredy got 100M $us. for compensate, he wish to sell the vicking and pool deck in time share. betwene 8 000$ an 40 000$ a week/year. If he got enough letter of intention, we keep it.
quote:Originally posted by Garnett:I may have been incorrect in my earlier posting....From Piet Sinke's daily column of March 25th, 2006:Norway Sold - AgainA story in today's online edition of the Star newspaper reports that the Norway, former flagship of Norwegian Cruise Line, has been sold to a Bangladeshi businessman for $12 million dollars. If true, this will be the second time the ship has been sold within the past three months...
A story in today's online edition of the Star newspaper reports that the Norway, former flagship of Norwegian Cruise Line, has been sold to a Bangladeshi businessman for $12 million dollars. If true, this will be the second time the ship has been sold within the past three months...
Where is Piet Sinke's daily column? The article you attributed to him was written by me for last week's Cruise News on this website.
Joe at TravelPage.com
Above is the link where I found the article. Mr. Sinke, I believe, usually makes note that his "news letter" is a consolidation of articles he has gathered from multiple websites. Looks like he saw your article.
Regards,Garnett
quote:Garnett wrote:Mr. Sinke, I believe, usually makes note that his "news letter" is a consolidation of articles he has gathered from multiple websites. Looks like he saw your article.
Or someone may have sent it to him. You just don't know unless you ask him.
In any event, I don't think there was an attempt by Mr. Sinke to claim the written verbage as his own.
Granted, he should probably note his sources, but I don't think he looks at his news letter as being on the same level as the New York Times or other media outlets.
quote:Originally posted by M.Robitaille:the ss Norway / ss France still have a chancego see www.savessnorway.com. A canadian, Émanuel Huard, try to buy the ship for bring it back to its true utility, cruising. He alredy got 100M $us. for compensate, he wish to sell the vicking and pool deck in time share. betwene 8 000$ an 40 000$ a week/year. If he got enough letter of intention, we keep it.
Is this true?They say "if it sounds too good to be true it is"I hope that's not the case with this.And renamed France too!!!!
SUPPOSEDLY, NCL denies they have any knowledge of the project and have never had any conversations with this individual...which may or may not mean anything given NCL/Star's tight-lipped Public Relations Department.
From what I've read so far, there seems to be a very jaundiced eye toward this individual and his project. His website does not, in my mind, inspire confidence as it does not appear to be professionally done and has numerous grammatical errors....things I would not expect to find within a professionally run company who reports to have access to $100 million in financing.
Hopefully, once his project managers are named, and MUCH more detail is given, maybe the undertaking can achieve some credibility. Right now, when you click on "managers" at his website, you get an error message.
quote:Originally posted by J.S.S.Normandie:They say "if it sounds too good to be true it is"
J.S.S.Normandie,
you are so right - sadly.
Make s search on Mr Huard and you will see.
Best,
Raoul
Not the Titanic replica.
see below
http://www.put.com/gigantic/
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