Looks like there may be good news on the horizon.
This seems just TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE :?: :?:
Let's keep our fingers crossed :D :D Wonder what kind of shape she is in after sitting on the mud for all these months :?:
Well if her bottom was not flat it will be now!!
Finaly some good news from Blue Lady :D :D
Will the Southeast Asians really want a reminder of their colonial past? Viet Nam? CJ
I read a post somewhere by one of her former officers of how sturdy he thought the bottom was and that he thought it would be fine as long as it didn't sit there for years. I have always lliked the Norway since it was the first cruise ship we actually saw in person. It was at the Miami dock just after the boiler explosion when we were leaving on our first cruise. It was the first ship that we could see from the bus.
I only saw her as Norway in Soton and she looked a bit worn then.
Latest from Norway.no
Looks like the end for the SS Norway
Supreme Court Decision TODAY!
Without claiming any equities, the Ship Breaking Unit shall be permitted to remove oil from the ship under the supervision and guidance of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board and the Gujarat Maritime Board. It shall be ensured by these two authorities that the activity does not result in any environmental pollution because of spilling of oil. The authorities concerned shall record the details about the weight of oil to be removed from the ship. The dismantling plan shall be supplied to the petitioner.
Posted on 15 May 2007
Evidence of Radioactive Material on Blue Lady
Evidence of Radioactive Material on Blue Lady
New evidence submitted by the former project manager of SS Norway (Blue Lady) reveals that the toxic ship-for-scrap renamed Blue Lady and currently anchored 4000 feet off Alang coast has radioactive material on board in at least 5500 fire detection points.
Americium 241 – a radioactive substance – concentrates in the bone, liver and muscle and can expose surrounding tissues to radiation, thereby increasing the risk of cancer. Ironically, this finding was made months after the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Technical Experts (CTE) opined "the presence of radioactive materials in a passenger ship like "Blue Lady" is quite unlikely."
"The new evidence exposes the shoddy state of science in this country. A body of experts appointed by the apex Court of the country confidently, and without evidence, rules on a subject that has far-ranging implications on worker health and environment."
Supreme Court in the matter of Ship Breaking dealing with "Decontamination of ships before they are exported to India for breaking", has specifically directed that "Before a ship arrives at port, it should have proper consent from the authority concerned or the State Maritime Board, stating that it does not contain any hazardous waste or radioactive substances. AERB should be consulted in the matter in appropriate cases." There has been no compliance of these directions in the case of Blue Lady. No one has been punished for this lapse till date.
"The ship admittedly contains more than 1200 tons of asbestos, significant quantities of carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other heavy-metal-laden substances.
Export of such ships to non-OECD countries violates the Basel Convention. However, India has refused to challenge such imports despite the abysmal environment and safety record at its ship-breaking yard in Alang."
The Final Report of CTE submitted to the apex court notes, "the average annual incidence of fatal accidents in ship breaking industry is 2.0 per 1000 workers while the All India incidence of fatal accidents during the same period in mining industry, which is considered to be the most accident prone industries, is 0.34per 1000 workers."
The Final Report also notes of asbestos victims in the ship-breaking industry and cites the "Medical Examination of the Asbestos Handlers" by a team of National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) that concludes, " The X ray examination by NIOH showed linear shadows on chest X rays of 15 (16 %) of 94 workers occupationally exposed to asbestos. These are consistent with asbestosis…" but has failed to recommend any compensation as is required as per court's directions.
"In such a context the imminent contamination from Americium-241 can occur to people/workers who work at or near a contaminated side through ingestion of food and water, or by inhalation is alarming." When inhaled, some Americium-241 remains in the lungs, depending upon the particle size and the chemical form of the Americium compound. The chemical forms that dissolve easily may pass into the bloodstream from the lungs. The chemical forms that dissolve less easily tend to remain in the lungs, or are coughed up through the lung's natural defense system, and swallowed. From the stomach, swallowed Americium may dissolve and pass into the bloodstream.
That Americium-241 poses a significant risk if ingested (swallowed) or inhaled. It can stay in the body for decades and continue to expose the surrounding tissues to both alpha and gamma radiation, increasing the risk of developing cancer. Americium-241 also poses a cancer risk to all organs of the body from direct external exposure to its gamma radiation. Neither the Dismantling Plan submitted by the buyers of the ship nor any of the Reports/Affidavits by the Technical Committee or Environment Ministry envisage safe removal/destruction of such radioactive substances contained in the Blue Lady.
Indian Platform on Shipbreaking
B-1/66, Ist floor Safdarjung Enclave, New
Delhi-110067
For details:
H Mahadevan (AITUC), 9818120885,
P K Ganguly (CITU),9968214082,
Gopal Krishna (Platform on Shipbreaking), 9818089660
News from the “Norway”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Govt_admits_to_radioactive_material_aboard_Blue_Lady/
articleshow/2341688.cms
If you study this, you get the opinion the passengers, who sailed on this ship, risked their life and their health.. Asbetos and radioactive material all over the place. Was there any complaint ?
I think not. So it looks rather like a game between experts and lawyers.
Perhaps NJVIC could tell us something about those smoke detectors containing radioactive materials.
wolfgang you seem to scan and read the Forum Schiff as well! 8)
Isn´t it legitimate,
particularly as
member No. 500 :wink:
I am sure that NJVIC can give us a more professional look but for the
time being, this is from the Howstuffworks website -
"Ionization smoke detectors use an ionization chamber and a source of ionizing radiation to detect smoke. This type of smoke detector is more common because it is inexpensive and better at detecting the smaller amounts of smoke produced by flaming fires.
Inside an ionization detector is a small amount (perhaps 1/5000th of a gram) of americium-241. The radioactive element americium has a half-life of 432 years, and is a good source of alpha particles.
Another way to talk about the amount of americium in the detector is to say that a typical detector contains 0.9 microcurie of americium-241. A curie is a unit of measure for nuclear material. If you are holding a curie of something in your hand, you are holding an amount of material that undergoes 37,000,000,000 nuclear transformations per second. Generally, that means that 37 billion atoms in the sample are decaying and emitting a particle of nuclear radiation (such as an alpha particle) per second. One gram of of the element radium generates approximately 1 curie of activity (Marie Curie, the woman after whom the curie is named, did much of her research using radium).
Speaking of alarms, whenever the words "nuclear radiation" are used an alarm goes off in many people's minds. The amount of radiation in a smoke detector is extremely small. It is also predominantly alpha radiation. Alpha radiation cannot penetrate a sheet of paper, and it is blocked by several centimeters of air. The americium in the smoke detector could only pose a danger if you were to inhale it. Therefore, you do not want to be playing with the americium in a smoke detector, poking at it, or disturbing it in any way, because you don't want it to become airborne."
There are other types of smoke detectors, but these are the most common
and most homes probably have one or two installed.
They are probably also installed on most cruise ships, although some may use
a non-radioactive type.
This is not to say that I endorse the ship-breaking policies in India and
Bangadesh. I just think that the opponents are using this to enhance
their position by blowing it out of proportion.
Source:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/smoke.htm