On Sat, 10 Mar 2001 22:08:22 GMT, kady@wwwaif.net (kady@wwwaif.net) wrote:

>In article <20010310214006.30416.qmail@nym.alias.net>, Cheradenine Zakalwe <zakalwe@nym.alias.net> wrote:
>>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>A couple of comments on the Freewinds Asbestos scandal.
>>First, has anyone been able to confirm the Woodcraft affidavit?
>>Do we have any other sworn, or even signed reports of asbestos
>>(or unidentified blue powder) on the Freewinds? This matters for
>>a couple of reasons.
>>Woodcraft *could* be lying, either to avenge himself on Scientology,
>>or as part of another op to dupe Bob a la one of the Dorian scenarios.
>>Sure, the story is consistent with the general sleaze and mindlessness
>>of the "Church", but that doesn't mean that it's true. If someone posted
>>an affidavit from some unknown person claiming that Scientology
>>was behind the assasination of JFK, I don't doubt that some people
>>on a.r.s. would shout it to the rooftops as established fact. Whatever
>>happened to critical thinking? Some kind kind of corroboration is
>>going to be necessary before anyone unfamiliar with Scientology
>>is going to believe such a grotesque story.
>Hey, you're preaching to the choir here (at least, from where I sit in my
>little back corner of a.r.s) when it comes to corroboration. I live for
>nailing down corroborating stories. It's my raison d'etre. Unfortunately, in
>this case, it's proving somewhat difficult to do so based on previous accounts
>of life on the Freewinds for the simple reason nobody has mentioned asbestos
>before, probably because they were never asked. Until the Woodcraft affidavit,
>there was no reason to ask former Freewinds seagoers if they remembered any
>sort of blue dust, or powder, emanating through the air while onboard.
Actually, there were rumors of asbestos on the Freewinds as early as 1997.

"Code9red" posted the rumor that Scientology's cruise ship Freewinds in dangerous because of toxic materials on board.

"The cruise ship that delivers the highest level of the scieno-cult's services available had its maiden voyage in June 1986. What is not commonly known about it is, as it was built as a cruise liner in Finland in the late 60's, it is loaded with asbestos (including blue asbestos, the most dangerous type of cancer-causing asbestos) which was never removed or encapsulated. The executives in charge of ship renovations were aware of this fact but made no attempt to handle it in the proper way. In other words, this is a blatant violation of U.S.

codes and there is no mystery as to why the ship never enters U.S. waters. It would never pass proper inspections in the U.S."

Message-ID: 19971026021400.WAA23321@ladder01.news.aol.com
From http://www.xenu.net/archive/WIR/wir2-28.html >So, first question, and this goes out to all the ex-scns who may have been on
>the Freewinds during the period of time in question: did you ever see any
>signs of asbestos? Did you have breathing problems that seemed directly
>attributable to your presence on the ship? Did any other scientologists ever
>mention seeing asbestos?
It might be easier to contact the previous owner of the ship, though for reasons involving liability, the previous owner may be no more likely to be forthcoming.

However, it might come from some standard construction line. If so, we would know whether asbestos was a "standard ingredient."

http://www.stutt.com/cruising/s-names-dl.html Freewinds Majestic 7,000 1968 Boheme No Pic Yet It was previously harbored in St. Petersburg under the name "Boheme" before its purchase by the Scientology cult, and was apparently constructed in 1968.

This web page in French indicates the Freewinds has a Sister Ship known as Le Rousillon.

http://ferries.ctw.net/cgtm/roussillon.htm C/F ROUSSILLON, sous les couleurs de la Cie Gale Transméditerranéenne (Carte postale CGTM) Transbordeur ROUSSILLON
(ex PRINZ HAMLET/PRINS HAMLET)
Longueur : 134,3 m - Largeur : 19,94 m - Tirant d'eau : 5,71
Puissance : 14000 CV - Vitesse : 20 noeuds
Capacité garages : 165 véhicules
Capacité passagers : 1200 personnes (444 en couchettes / 632 en fauteuils)
Equipage : 13 officiers et 100 hommes
Baptême : ? - Marraine : ?
Sister-ships : BOHEME (1968) actuel FREEWINDS,
FINNHANSA (1965) actuel PRINCESA MARISSA et FINNPARTNER (1966) actuel IALYSSOS

C/F ROUSSILLON, sous les couleurs de la CGTM, td à quai à Bastia (Carte postale Rion) PRINS HAMLET est un car ferry construit en 1966 par les chantiers Wärtsilä Chrichton Vulcan à Åbo (Finlande) pour l'armement suédois Lion Ferry Ab. Le navire (construction n°1133 des chantiers) est livré le samedi 14 mai 1966 à son armateur, pour être exploité en saison sur la ligne Bremerhaven-Harwich.

Au cours de l'hiver 1967, le PRINS HAMLET est affrété sur la ligne Lisbonne (Portugal) - Recife (Brésil), avant d'effectuer en 1967 et en 1968 des rotations sur la ligne Halmstad - Köpenhamn.

Vendu en juin 1969 à Hafendampschiffart AG de Hamburg (Tyskland), le navire est rebaptisé PRINZ HAMLET sous pavillon allemand, et dessert pour Prinzen Line la ligne Hambourg - Harwich.

PRINS HAMLET est acheté en novembre 1970 par la Compagnie Générale Transatlantique à l'armement Hadag Seetouristik und Fahrdienst, pour sa filiale Compagnie Générale Transméditerranéenne qui en prend possession le vendredi 27 novembre 1970 et le renomme ROUSSILLON, en vue de sa mise en service en mars 1971 en remplacement du paquebot MEDITERRANEE (restitué à la Cie Gale Transat).

Après transformations, le ROUSSILLON entre en service à la CGTM le dimanche 07 mars 1971. De nouveaux travaux sont entrepris fin 1974 pour porter la capacité de son garage de 140 à 260 véhicules. En conséquence, le nombre de passagers passe de 1076 à 998 personnes.

Exploité sur les lignes de l'Afrique du Nord voire de la Corse, ROUSSILLON passe le 16 mars 1976 sous les couleurs de la Société Nationale Maritime Corse-Méditerranée.

Remplacé par le nouveau transbordeur LIBERTÉ, ROUSSILLON est vendu le vendredi 04 janvier 1980 à Dodekanisiaki Shipping Company SA de Rhodes (Grèce). Livré à son nouvel armateur le vendredi 28 mars 1980, il est renommé KAMIROS, et est ré-aménagé pour le transport de 1200 passagers et 165 véhicules sur la ligne Le Pirée - Rhodes.

Le car ferry est revendu en 1997 à La Vallette (Malta) et rebaptisé THESSALONIKI.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will now feed this to babblefish to translate it into incomprehensible gibberish.

C/F ROUSSILLON, under the colors of the Co Transmediterranean Scale (Postcard CGTM) Roussillon Transporter
(ex PRINZ HAMLET/PRINS HAMLET)
Length: 134,3 m - Width: 19,94 m - Draught: 5,71
Power: 14000 Cv - Speed: 20 nodes
Capacity garages: 165 vehicles
Capacity passengers: 1200 people (444 out of berths / 632 in armchairs)
Crew: 13 officers and 100 men
Baptism: - Godmother:
Sistership: BOHEME (1968) current FREEWINDS,
FINNHANSA (1965) current PRINCESA MARISSA and FINNPARTNER (1966) current
IALYSSOS

C/F ROUSSILLON, under the colors of the CGTM, td with quay in Bastia (Postcard Rion) PRINS HAMLET is a bus ferry built in 1966 by the building sites Wärtsilä Chrichton Vulcan with Å bo (Finland) for the Swedish armament Lion Ferry Ab. The ship (construction n°1133 of the building sites) is delivered saturdays May 14, 1966 to its ship-owner, to be exploited in season on the Bremerhaven-Harwich line.

During the winter 1967, PRINS HAMLET is chartered on the line Lisbon (Portugal) - Recife (Brazil), before carrying out in 1967 and 1968 of rotations on the Halmstad line - Köpenhamn.

Sold in June 1969 in Hafendampschiffart AG of Hamburg (Tyskland), the ship is renamed PRINZ HAMLET under German house, and serves for Prinzen Line the line Hamburg - Harwich.

PRINS HAMLET is bought in November 1970 by the Transatlantic General Company with the armament Hadag Seetouristik und Fahrdienst, for its Transmediterranean General Compagnie subsidiary company which takes possession of it Friday November 27, 1970 and re-elects it ROUSSILLON, for its startup in March 1971 to replace the MEDITERRANEAN steamer (restored with the Co Scale Transatlantic race).

After transformations, ROUSSILLON enters in service with the CGTM Sunday March 07, 1971. New work is undertaken at the end of 1974 to carry the capacity of its garage from 140 to 260 vehicles. Consequently, the number of passengers passes from 1076 to 998 people.

Exploited on the lines of North Africa even of Corsica, ROUSSILLON spends on March 16, 1976 pennies the colors of the National Company the Maritime Corsican-Mediterranean.

Replaced by the new transporter FREEDOM, ROUSSILLON is sold Friday January 04, 1980 in Dodekanisiaki Shipping Company SA of Rhodos (Greece). Delivered to its new ship-owner Friday March 28, 1980, it is famous KAMIROS, and is refitted for the transport of 1200 passengers and 165 vehicles on the line Pirée - Rhodos.

The bus ferry is resold in 1997 in Vallette (Malted) and is renamed THESSALONIKI.
In less credible reportage, other hanky-panky was alleged about the Freewinds.

Freewinds Steve Fishman this week posted allegations that the cult cruise ship Freewinds is involved in illegal activities for the cult.

"The Freewinds is based out of Curacao, in the Netherland Antilles. They do this primarily as a money laundering operation. For example, if you buy books or tapes or courses that are delivered on the Freewinds, the bill is invoiced on your credit card through a bank in Curacao.

"They often charge state tax and do not pay the taxes to the state doing it this way, and this is only one of the multitude of criminal acts I have asked State and Federal authorities to investigate in order to get their tax exemption overturned. "It used to be a cruise ship called 'La Boheme.' The boat broker who handled the sale of La Boheme, Bud Fields, was found murdered in his home in Longboat Key, Florida, when he refused to sell the boat to Miscavige because he had been offered an unscheduled commission or a kickback from Norwegian Caribbean Lines, who was also interested at the time, according to Bonny Mott, who was the Authorization and Verification Unit Officer of the Commodore's Messenger Org back then who was posted as a 'nanny' in the home of Bud and Lee Fields in order to spy on him for OSA."

Message-ID: <4lph9k$8lg@dfw-ixnews8.ix.netcom.com>


Considering that Steve Fishman also, at other times, alleged that it was filled with Nazi gold, I'd imagine we'd seriously need more corroborating evidence before even taking this report seriously. In fact I wonder why I even bothered including it.

ptsc

I think that in its early life, the ship was a ferryboat somewhere in Scandinavia, then it was sold and became La Boheme.

I kept the card of the UK based construction company:

C.L.C.
Cruise Line Contractors
USA
1007 North America Way
Port of Miami, FL 33132
305 375 0347
U.K.
Vincent Ave
Southampton SO1 6PQ
0703 701111 Bill Childerstone, President (he didn't come to the ship, it was the VP who came, who freaked out, can't remember his name).

This is based on 14 year old information. They also may be feeling sensitive about the issue, since their workforce was exposed and may be feeling litigious.

As to the possibility that the asbestos has been removed by the RPF, I would say there is Zero possibility. The ship would have to be gutted, all the interior fixtures ripped out practically, and reduced back to a floating metal hull. Then it would have to be replaced with a new fire protecting material.

Cost millions, even with the RPF.

I did a search on the ship the SS United States and asbestos. This ship was built in 1956 and had a similar problem. Because it was loaded with asbestos it became worthless and was sold for 2 million. They took it to turkey to have the asbestos removed, but were hounded out by Greenpeace as a toxis hazard.

Greenpeace estimated that to remove the asbestos in the USA would have cost 120 million. Then they took it to a shipyard in the Ukraine, where it was completely gutted back to a metal shell in order to remove all the stuff. Now I think it is sitting in a dockyard at Philadelphia, rusting away, while they try to raise the millions required to restore it.

BTW, no public person on the ship would see asbestos, as it's all behind paneling.

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