Norway (ship)
 The Norway in the 1980s
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The Norway was a transatlantic liner that was later converted into a cruise ship. It was commissioned as France on July 25, 1956 by the French shipping company Compagnie Générale Transatlantique and was built at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire . The France was launched on May 11, 1960 and was delivered by the shipyard on January 6, 1962. After her maiden cruise, the France came into service on February 3, 1962 as a two-class ship on the North Atlantic route between Le Havre and New York .
Technical specifications
As France
- With a length of 315.53 meters, the France was the longest passenger ship to date . Their width was 33.81 meters, their draft 10.48 meters. The four-screw ship was measured with 66,343 GRT with a displacement of 57,607 tons. The France had twelve decks and was 67.97 meters high from the keel to the top of the mast. Their drive consisted of eight boilers , which drove four steam turbines from CEM-Parsons-Atlantique with gears , which in turn worked on four propellers . In total, the France had a drive power of 175,000 hp . With a fuel consumption of 800 tons per day at sea, the France reached a service speed of 31 knots . With a maximum speed of 35.21 knots, she was the second fastest transatlantic liner ever built after the United States .
As Norway
- 1980: To reduce fuel consumption from 800 t / day to 200 t / day, the front boiler room and the outer drive shafts were shut down. This also reduced the service speed to 18 knots with a maximum speed of now 26 knots. Five new diesel generators were installed in the boiler room, mainly to cover the increased power requirements of the air conditioning system that was newly installed for use in the Caribbean. Two stern and three bow thrusters have been retrofitted for better maneuverability . An aircraft carrier-like pool deck was added to the stern to enlarge the external open space. Two dinghies with a capacity of 450 people were installed on the forecastle in order to be able to call at smaller harbors that are actually inaccessible due to the draft. With the new measurement of around 70,200 GRT, the Norway pushed the British Queen Elizabeth 2 into second place.
- 1990: Construction of two new prefabricated decks at the Lloyd shipyard in Bremerhaven , therefore increasing the measurement to 76,049 GRT.
history
1962–1974 operated as France
Early 1962 the ship entered with President Charles de Gaulle , the maiden voyage to New York. The ship's schedule was coordinated with that of the United States until 1969 - when the United States Lines ceased passenger service - in order to enable smooth and conflict-free service in the interests of both shipping companies. However, the triumph of aviation was already evident in the 1960s. In the winter months in particular, numerous liners went on cruises in order to attract more guests in warmer climes than in the stormy North Atlantic . In 1972 France set out on her first world tour, which also took her around Cape Horn , as she significantly exceeded the Panamax size required to pass through the Panama Canal . But cruises were not able to save the remaining ocean liners either, since in 1974 aircraft already accounted for 70% of transatlantic traffic and the dramatic oil crisis made it completely impossible for the “thirsty” ships to operate at full cost. The French government therefore came to the conclusion in 1974, the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, the subsidies should be deleted, even to the new French prestige project, the construction and operation of the supersonic airliner Concorde finance. This meant the sure end for France . In September 1974, in an act of desperation , trade unionists took over the ship and dropped it at anchor in the fairway just off the port of Le Havre . But the protests achieved nothing - October 9, 1974, was France decommissioned and "Forgotten Pier" in a secluded harbor at the so-called hook . The five-month farewell cruise, scheduled from September 1974, has been canceled. The ship threatened to deteriorate completely. In 1975 the singer Michel Sardou wrote a critical chanson with the refrain "Never call me France again, France let me fall ..." ("Ne m'appelez plus jamais France, la France m'a laissé tomber ...").
1977/1979 - The sale of France
In 1977 the Arab entrepreneur Akram Ojjeh bought the ship for 22 million US dollars. The aim was to use the France in Daytona Beach , Florida , as a tourist attraction similar to the Queen Mary in Long Beach , California . The ship remained in Le Havre, however, and the plans quickly fell apart.
In 1979 a new prospect came on the scene. The Norwegian shipowner Knut Kloster founded the Norwegian Caribbean Line (NCL) in 1966, one of the first modern cruise lines in the world. At the end of the 1970s, Klosters' fleet was almost completely booked out, and the shipowner was looking for a way to expand his fleet in the shortest possible time. A time-consuming new building was ruled out, as was the presumably overpriced takeover of a competing ship. But Kloster was thinking in completely different dimensions anyway: Instead of the existing cruise ships with around 20,000 gross register tons, Kloster hoped to convert a former trans-Atlantic liner and use it as a cruise ship not only to cover costs, but also to make a big profit. This required a significant reduction in fuel consumption, which, however, was not an insurmountable problem with the already rather leisurely cruises. Furthermore, Kloster developed a revolutionary cruise philosophy: "The ship is the destination". Innovative concepts and facilities should encourage passengers to spend additional money on board and book the ship first and then the route.
What Kloster still lacked in order to realize its vision was a suitable ship. His favorite was the United States , which had been unemployed since 1969. But at the time the ship was built under great secrecy with funds from the US Department of Defense so that in the event of war it could be converted into the fastest troop transport in the world in 24 hours . As a result, some of the United States' technical facilities, as well as its special hull shape, were considered military secrets . For this reason, the US government did not agree to a sale to Norway .
So Kloster also looked at the France and finally decided to purchase this ship. The purchase price was an estimated $ 18 million scrap value.
The conversion to Norway
While still in Le Havre, France was renamed Norway and left France in August 1979. The destination was the then Hapag-Lloyd shipyard (now Lloyd shipyard) in Bremerhaven . At the renowned shipyard, an outdated ocean liner was supposed to be turned into a modern cruise superliner in nine months - the first of its kind.
Kloster's competitors smiled at the ambitious project, because the Norway seemed unable to call at most of the ports in the Caribbean - her intended trading area - because of her enormous dimensions and above all because of her great draft . But Kloster was not deterred. In order to be able to use the Norway profitably, the mighty drive system was significantly reduced: Half of its boilers and turbines were shut down and the two outer propellers and shafts were removed. The ship's service speed should be only 18 knots, with the option of being able to reach up to 26 knots if necessary. The main turbines could now also be controlled remotely from the bridge. The fuel consumption was reduced from an average of 800 to 200 tons per day. A waste incineration plant for 50 tons per day was installed in the front boiler room.
To improve the maneuverability of the Norway , three bow and two stern thrusters with a total of 10,600 hp were installed. Six new diesel generators (4 × 6000 V / 2600 kW and 2 × 6000 V / 3000 kW) were installed to meet the increased demand for electricity. These support the previous turbine generators in generating electricity because, among other things, eight new air conditioning systems had been installed, which ensured pleasant temperatures inside the ship even in the heat of the Caribbean . With the steam generated by the generators, 1400 tons of seawater could be desalinated daily.
All cabins have been renovated and equipped with color televisions. 40,000 m² specially woven carpeting for the entire ship was supplied from Great Britain.
The aft deck underwent the most striking change from the outside. At the height of the glass roof that spanned the tourist class pool of France , a completely new pool deck was installed, which protruded laterally over the ship's hull, which tapers towards the stern. It was possible to argue about the attractiveness of this “aircraft carrier rear”, but it created enough space for sunbathing around the newly installed outdoor pool. The free deck area on the five upper decks was 6000 m², of which 2700 m² were given a new Oregon pine flooring.
The theater's balcony, which was previously reserved for first class passengers, has been enlarged and the tourist class promenade on the new pool deck has been removed. In their place, 24 luxury cabins and eight penthouse suites were installed. A further 34 deluxe cabins were added on the pool deck. All common rooms have been converted for a one-class ship to meet the requirements of Caribbean cruises according to American taste. The tourist class pool was provided with a mirror dance floor and became the center of the ship's disco "Dazzles" with a 238,000 watt music system.
Among the other changes, one particular curiosity stands out: on the later fjord deck on the SS France there was a small, sheltered inner courtyard, into which the ship's second outdoor pool was lowered during the conversion to Norway . 213 one-armed bandits were assembled in the new “Monte Carlo” gaming room . The theater was redesigned with two side stages and offered 600 seats. 15 bars were installed and the two 150 m long "main shopping streets" ("5th Avenue" on port and "Champs-Elysées" on starboard) provided numerous shopping opportunities. The main hall "Main Lounge" offered 800 seats, in the cabaret the dance floor was made of black and white Carrara marble . The two new dining rooms offered space for 750 and 500 passengers respectively.
The paint on the hull was changed to navy blue; the front and top edges of the white chimneys were tinted dark blue.
The largest floating art gallery acted as a further superlative: around 100 paintings, 50 woven works of art, 1,400 graphic prints and 200 posters worth four million crowns were purchased from Scandinavian artists and hung in the ship.
The size problem was cleverly solved by creating space for two 26.4 meter long, eight meter wide and up to 450 passenger tenders over the former cargo hatches in the foredeck. For reasons of stability, they were made of aluminum, had a draft of only 1.3 m and could be put on the beach like a landing craft with a bow hatch . The Norway could thus remain in the roadstead and the guests could still be brought ashore very quickly. For the two tender boats, four davits designed for 30 tons were attached in front of the ship's bridge . It was calculated that all 2000 passengers would be dropped off on the island of Little San Salvador in the Bahamas , which was acquired by NCL, within an hour and a half . Furthermore, only Charlotte Amalie on Saint Thomas ( US Virgin Islands ) should be called.
For the crew reduced to around 800 men, the former six-bed cabins were converted for a maximum of four people. Due to the partial automation, only three men per watch or twelve a day instead of the previous 24 were required in the machine area. In addition to around 100 Norwegian executives, around 100 bartenders, 35 musicians and 18 animators worked on board. The team came from over 20 countries, mainly Jamaica, Haiti and South Korea.
Remodeling costs
The total expenditure, including the purchase of the ship and personal work, was an estimated 160 million Deutschmarks. For this sum, one could have commissioned the construction of a 700-passenger ship, which would not have been available until a year later. With 80% utilization, the shipping company calculated that the costs will be amortized in seven to eight years. The previous fleet at Kloster was 97.3% full.
The ship was in the shipyard from August 28, 1979 to April 24, 1980 and could therefore be delivered six weeks earlier than planned. According to British shipping experts, it was the largest ship conversion contract of all time.
An order worth around 100 million D-Marks was thus concluded for the shipyard in Bremerhaven, which at the time corresponded to annual sales. Of these, around 53 million were subcontracted, including a. to the German companies AG Weser , Siemens , BBC , Rickmers , Seebeck and Thyssen .
The problem was the short-term procurement of around 130 tons of aluminum and 600 tons of steel for the deck extension. Fortunately, Bremer AG Weser was able to provide the two back pressure turbines and the sea water evaporator system as a result of a cancellation - their delivery time would have been one year.
The ship designer Tage Wandborg from the engineering office Knud E. Hansen in Copenhagen was responsible for the overall concept, design and furnishings. A US company was added for parts of the lounges at the beginning of 1980.
Conversion planning for 1981
As soon as the renovation was completed, a further expansion of the passenger cabin capacity was planned for 1981, which the shipyard prepared for the delivery of prefabricated units.
May 1980 - Back on the road as Norway
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In May 1980 Norway left the shipyard and first presented itself in the country whose name it was named. Tens of thousands cheered the arrival of the cruise giant in the home port of Oslo , as well as almost two weeks later in New York and Miami , their port of departure for regular cruises to the Eastern Caribbean.
Despite all prophecies of doom, the Norway quickly developed into a great success for the Norwegian Caribbean Line, despite an unpleasant one-day power failure at sea in August 1980 .
1990 - Second renovation and expansion
Apart from a few trips to other sailing areas, the ship remained loyal to the Caribbean until 1990, when it crossed the Atlantic with a course to Bremerhaven in order to undergo further modifications there. The shipping company, which has since been renamed Norwegian Cruise Line , had recognized a clear weakness of Norway that had now come to light : In contrast to the first modern cruise ships that appeared at the end of the 1980s, they had no cabins with private balconies and only a few suites with large panoramic windows .
This should be remedied by putting on two completely new decks. 135 new luxury suites were hoisted on board at the Lloyd shipyard, which greatly changed the appearance of the ship. Numerous observers reacted in horror and compared the Norway to a beautiful woman who wears a very ugly hat. The Sky and Sun-deck suites of Norway are still among the most spectacular ever offered accommodation at sea. Some of the bathrooms even had floor-to-ceiling windows. Until 1990, the outer promenade of Norway ran on the Oslo deck only on both sides of the ship, now a section has been added below the bridge so that a jogging path was created. The fitness center, which had previously been located on the Dolphin deck in the immediate vicinity of the former first-class indoor swimming pool, was also rebuilt aft on the Oslo Deck, which was renamed Olympic Deck for the occasion . Since then, the sporty passengers have been able to enjoy the view of the sea while “working out”. The indoor pool area on the Dolphin deck has also been extensively remodeled - the Roman Spa , an excellent thermal area, was created. The Lido Lounge on the pool deck became Le Bistro , an alternative restaurant, in which passengers, upon prior registration and for an additional fee, could enjoy dinner of special quality in an intimate atmosphere. As a result of the modifications, the measurement of the Norway increased to 76,049 GRT.
May 1999 - The fire in the engine room
In the following years after the second renovation in 1990, the Norway performed its service reliably and still profitably despite the increasing competition from modern super and megaliners. She crossed the Atlantic a few times to go on a cruise in European waters and to be modernized again and again in British and German shipyards. In 1998 - in accordance with the current SOLAS regulations - a ship-wide sprinkler system was installed.
During her last European season under NCL direction in May 1999, a fire occurred in the engine room just outside Barcelona , in which the ship, which had been extensively renovated a few weeks earlier, was so badly damaged that it was out of action for three weeks. The subsequent Norway cruise became a triumphal procession for the "Blue Lady", as Norway was also called. The ship was received with enthusiasm everywhere.
October 2000 - after being taken over by Star Cruises
In 2000, Norwegian Cruise Line was acquired by the Malaysia- based shipping company Star Cruises after a bitter takeover battle . With an on-board concept called "Freestyle Cruising", the new shipping company management planned to differentiate NCL more clearly from the competition. However, the Norway did not fit into the new philosophy, and so it was announced on October 9, 2000 that the ship would leave the NCL fleet and move to the parent company Star Cruises in Asia . The Norway should crown her last Caribbean season with a 16-day Atlantic crossing from Miami to Southampton . But already in May 2001 the hour of fate seemed to have struck for the four decades old liner: The US Coast Guard withdrew the Norway's transport permit due to massive damage to the sprinkler system - more than 100 makeshift leaks were discovered during a routine inspection. The cruise planned for that day had to be canceled. What the press, visibly agitated by this sloppiness, overlooked the fact that the sprinkler system was not 40 years old as claimed, but was installed in 1998. It was possible to repair the damage in good time before the start of the next trip and to obtain a new transport permit.
September 2001 - planned relocation to Asia canceled
On September 2, 2001, the Norway left her long-term base port in Miami. She visited New York State three days later. The catastrophe that struck the city on the Hudson on September 11, 2001 was experienced by Norway at sea - a cruise advertised as a gala farewell turned into a silent crossing with daily funeral services - among the passengers were numerous New Yorkers. The Norway arrived at her former home port of Le Havre on September 17 , but the otherwise exuberant reception was extremely muted. The passengers finally disembarked in Southampton the following day .
This was followed by several charter cruises from a French travel company, which had already chartered the ship several times during previous visits to Europe. But even before the Norway set off for the Bremerhaven-based Lloyd shipyard at the end of October to be prepared for her assignment in Asia, the shipping company made an unexpected backward move. The SuperStar Aries was to leave the Star Cruises fleet in spring 2002 to switch to the subsidiary Orient Lines . As a kind of replacement, the Norway should switch from NCL to Star Cruises. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it was decided not to send the SuperStar Aries to Orient Lines and to leave the Norway in the Caribbean for a year. At the end of November, the renovated Norway left Bremerhaven for Miami, from where she left for her first cruise on December 14th.
May 2003 - The boiler explosion
On the morning of May 25, 2003 , a serious boiler explosion occurred on board the Norway , which at that time was after the end of a seven-day cruise in the port of Miami, in which eight crew members were killed and many more injured. The cause of the explosion was never established. The Norway was towed to Bremerhaven, where she was to be repaired and put back into service in October 2003. The date was later postponed to spring 2004, then indefinitely.
Decommissioning and scrapping
Finally, Norwegian Cruise Line announced that the ship would be sold and that they were no longer interested in further operations. After numerous sales efforts had failed, NCL threatened in early 2005 that they might sell the ship for demolition . A static use as a floating hotel, museum, congress and entertainment center appeared to be the only alternative.
On May 23, 2005 the Norway left Bremerhaven in the tow of a Chinese deep-sea tug . On August 10, 2005, the tug reached the port of Port Klang in Malaysia . There the Norway initially remained in the roadstead.
On February 20, 2006 it was announced that the once largest cruise ship in the world, despite 1,000 tons of asbestos being built in , was to be scrapped in Bangladesh . Because of the asbestos built into the ship, Bangladesh refused to scrap the Norway . In the meantime, the ship belonged to a businessman from the Asian country on the Ganges Delta .
On April 24, 2006, Indian media reports announced the sale by Star Cruises to an Indian scrapping company. For the transfer to Alang , the center of the Indian ship recycling industry, the ship was renamed the Blue Lady .
Even India rejected the scrapping of the vessel off first for environmental reasons. After a stopover in the Emirate of Fujairah , however, it has been anchored off the coast of the Indian state of Gujarat since June 28, 2006 . A technical expert commission appointed by the Indian Constitutional Court decided in early July 2006 that the ship could be scrapped in Alang despite its high pollutant content.
The scrapping in Alang represents a breach of the Basel Convention on the "Control of Cross-Border Movements of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal". According to this, the ship should actually have been decontaminated before export in Germany (according to the Basel Convention the country of origin). A precedent was set in this regard following protests against the scrapping of the polluted French aircraft carrier Clemenceau , which was towed to India for scrapping and had to return to France (the scrapping took place in the UK from February 2009).
As previously indicated in media reports, the technical commission of the Indian Constitutional Court gave the scrapping company permission to demolish the ship on August 1, 2006.
The ship was stranded on August 15, 2006 for demolition in Alang . The stranding was carried out by the demolition company without the formal approval of the Indian Supreme Court. This became known on August 17, 2006 through media reports.
On 25 July 2007 during a new session of was Supreme Court of India (top Indian court) by a letter from the former project manager of Norway known Tom Haugen that at least 5,500 ionization smoke on board are associated with the radioactive isotope americium 241 work and require special handling during disposal.
On July 26, 2007, the Supreme Court granted the NGO Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy a ten-day period within which to justify its criticism of the recommendation of the Court's technical commission to permit the demolition of the Norway.
On September 11, 2007, the Indian Supreme Court finally allowed the ship to be demolished.
The non-governmental organization Indian Platform on Shipbreaking , under the leadership of Gopal Krishna, appealed against the judgment of September 11th, but in October the interior was already taken from the ship and offered for sale.
The ship was dismantled in 2008.
Web links
- Reference from Lloydwerft about work on the Norway, with pictures
- Greenpeace report on the planned scrapping
- News page with reports and links to the planned scrapping (Engl.)
- T / S France (1961)
Individual evidence
- ↑ All information on the 1st conversion from an article by Gerd-Dietrich Schneider: NORWAY - the cruise superlative, nautical yearbook Nauticus , 1981?, Pp. 177–182 (only available in fragments)
- ^ Der Spiegel : Overseaser France: End as a ghost ship , February 1, 2006
- ↑ Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen : PRESS RELEASE NO.0947 of the Bundestag faction Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen : Bring back illegally exported asbestos-contaminated ex-SS Norway , July 21, 2006
- ↑ www.zeenews.com : 'Blue Lady' gets green signal from SC panel to beach at Alang
- ↑ The Times of India : 'Blue Lady' gets ready for shipbreaking , Aug. 15, 2006
- ↑ The Times of India : 'Blue Lady' can't be scrapped without permission: SC , Aug. 18, 2006
- ^ The Times of India : Radioactive material aboard Blue Lady , July 30, 2007
- ↑ Blue Lady: SC seeks NGO response on panel report ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 26, 2007
- ↑ BBC News : Indian court clears 'toxic' ship , Sept. 11, 2007
- ↑ Blue Lady's fate uncertain as activists to challenge SC , September 17, 2007
- ↑ www.maritimematters.com: Pictures of the cutting on the beach of Alang
