Blue Lady docks at Pipavav
by Ahmedabad Newsline (India)
30 June 2006 (Ahmedabad, India) –
She’s here finally. The much-talked-about cruise liner SS Norway alias Blue Lady arrived on Friday morning, docking at Pipavav port anchorage, approximately 35 nautical miles away from Alang yard.
Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) had earlier identified Pipavav as a safe anchorage for the ship in view of the monsoon season. On June 5, 2006 the Supreme Court had given the go-ahead to the ship to enter Indian territorial waters and dock it at a safe anchorage to be identified by the GMB.
The 46,000-tonne ocean liner, formerly owned by the famous Star Cruise, has been towed with two tugs named Intersurf and Seaways 5. Earlier, Seaways 5 had towed 1953-built laker Oakglen and the 1959-built laker Seaway Queen together to Alang in 2004.
According to the sources, after a routine inspection, the ship will be given a custom clearance in a day or two to expedite the environmental inspections to be undertaken by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) to verify the quantity and nature of hazardous waste aboard the ship.
A detailed inspection report by the GPCB will be submitted to the Supreme Court-appointed experts committee headed by the Union Secretary of Environment and Forest Pradipto Ghosh.
“The beaching permission will be given only after the inspection by GPCB and a pre-beaching inspection is carried out and report submitted to the SC appointed committee,” said M M Khatri, GMB engineer in charge of Alang.
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