Breaking News: SS Independence Leaving San Francisco
By Jonathan Haeber
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She is a real beauty, and I’m more than happy to have been on-board her thrice, but the time has come for the SS Independence to be towed away to the breaker beaches of Alang, India. According to two to three sources, the boat has not only been sold by Norwegian Cruise Lines, but she’s also going to leaving the U.S. this coming Thursday.
I am saddened by the fact that this is happening. It seems like such an incredible waste of an incredible piece of history. The ship has held Ronald Reagan and other notables on-board. It’s the last remaining American Ocean Liner besides the SS United States (which is in much, much worse condition).
The SS Independence could easily return to service. She could easily be turned into a floating hotel and resort in a U.S. port. She could even be put back to her Hawaiian cruise tour.
Perhaps in another economic era, when Americans felt a bit more frivolous and were able to travel a bit more, the SS Independence would be a viable enterprise. I don’t know if it could now, but that doesn’t mean it would be prohibitively expensive to preserve. All she would need is a place to float and a bare-bones crew to keep her clean. Richmond seems like a good place, as that’s where a historic Victory ship is floating as I type this.
The SS Independence was built with our money. She was a subsidized liner. She is owned as much by us as she is by Norwegian Cruise Lines, who promised to preserve her or put her back into service as a contingency of their purchase. In this case, it’s another instance of broken promises and lies — and toxic cleanup being shipped off to a developing country so we don’t have to deal with our asbestos-laden past.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU8cX37x76Y]
I encourage Bearings readers to submit an email or letter to their local media making them aware of this historic ship and telling them of the environmental and human costs associated with shipping her off to Alang. She could still be saved, if we move swiftly, though chances of that happening are slim.
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February 3rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
dammit that sucks. i just figured out how to board that beauty last week. cross your fingers and hope for no rain this week during the evenings.
February 3rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Jon - thank you again for bringing this story to light. i can only hope that one of our papers will pursue the story before it’s too late.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Part of me says it’s sad and a waste etc. But the bigger part of me says to just let her go.
I’ve been night shooting on her in the past week as well and I can honestly say that it would cost 10’s of millions of dollars to retrofit her, and even if you did that she’d still be totally obsolete in so many ways (size, propulsion, weight) that she could never hope to compete with modern cruise ships. She is the very definition of a white elephant.
Machines wear out, designs become obsolete. Death is the way of all things.
That day has finally come for the Indy and no amount of hand wringing or letter-writing will save her. Kiss her goodbye and move on to the next abandoned location.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Troy, I normally would agree with you if this wasn’t the last ship in an era that preceded our jet-set age. This is more vital of a piece of history than the many warships that have been preserved. It’s been featured in movies and commercials and is part of our cultural heritage.
I think this is a different type of site than, say, an oil refinery or a gas station along Route 66. We haven’t taken the care to preserve any of our historic cruise ships (besides the Queen Mary, which is a piece of history in her own right).
A second issue I wish I had better addressed were the environmental costs associated with ship breaking in Alang.
I think San Francisco could benefit from its own Queen Mary. Los Angeles has had success. It may take tens of millions to restore her to servicable status, but I think it couldn’t take more than a million or two keep her afloat as a museum or tourist attraction — even a night club or floating hotel. These things could even be profitable. For this reason, and many more, I would like to see it preserved. We have too many “military” sites and ships preserved in the Bay Area. We have a “Prison” as a tourist attraction. I think it would be splendid to have something that looks less on the dark and dreary and violent, and more towards the nostalgic and glamorous side of things.
February 4th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I agree, I don’t think anyone would suggest she be returned to service to compete with modern cruise ships. The Indy is an ocean liner, she’s pretty much already the last of her kind. Personally, I thought she served well on the Hawaiian circuit. I was fortunate enough to sail on her over Memorial Day 2000 - the Navy allowed her, as an American Built, American Flagged vessel to sail into Pearl and drop a wreath at the Arizona.
I agree, it would take tens of millions to return her to full service, but I feel it’s also important to point out that NCL ALLOWED her to fall into disrepair. She’d undergone an extensive refurb in the mid 90’s and was in excellent condition for her age in 2000. I’ve seen it reported that $78MIL was invested in maintenance and refurb between 94 and 2001.
Perhaps if the situation were different, I would agree that it was time to let her go. But not when her demise has been intentional from the day NCL purchased her. The Indy’s last cruise for AHCL was in 9/01 - NCL bought her in 2/03. She didn’t fall into total disrepair in 17 months. When NCL acquired Indy, they announced that she’d be returned to service in 2004. And they never touched her since.
I understand that NCL was allowed certain exemptions to the Jones Act, because they purchased the Indy along with the two partially complete new ships AHCL had on order that were being built in southern MS. (it should be noted that NCL ALSO acquired these 1/2 completed vessels - had everything shipped to Europe where the builds were completed and then returned to the US as the “Pride” of America, etc….hmmm…). Obviously, it was in Hawaii’s best interest to get cruise ships back in their ports, but NCL, a foreign cruise line was allowed to offer continuous service to US ports without a foreign port of call.
NCL purchased Indy (for a meager 4Mil) and announced that she was to be restored and returned to service - thus NCL would be maintaining a US built, US flagged ship in her fleet.
If you want an even bigger laugh, NCL is *still* promising to return the SS United States to cruise service - the SS US is FAR more deteriorated than the Indy, having been laid up since the early 70s. The SS US will never see service again either.
I, personally, have a problem with a foreign corporation being allowed to skirt our maritime laws and insult our national maritime history. Just another case of a big corporation doing saying one thing and doing the complete opposite.
February 4th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Thanks for that extra input Eric! I learned a lot from that comment that I hadn’t known before. Enlightening revelations to say the least. I recently ran into a web site, too, that showed how many subsidies NCL is able to swipe from us… U.S. taxpayers… in a massive pork barrel grab. All of it seems fishy — no pun intended — to me.
February 4th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
By the way, here is the article about the subsidies: http://www.mrcranky.com/movies/texasrangers/28.html
February 8th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
And she’s gone
February 9th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Yes. Sad fate indeed, Eric
. Rest assured, I’ll do all that is possible to make its quiet departure become a loud call for action that NCL wish had never happened.
February 10th, 2008 at 10:06 am
It appears that the SS Independence leaving without a real destination port and without decontamination is the last move by the American DHS’s attempt to take over the passenger cruise industry by framing all of the breakers and companies as sponsors of terrorism. The (SS) Constitution was already sunk. See Http://BlueNorway.Org
February 10th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Thanks John, I know you contacted the media in SF and your images alone have raised so much awareness. I have a new project in the works to raise awareness of NCL’s actions that will hopefully make Americans think twice about where they put their $ when it comes time for a vacation.
I’m all for a US built, US flagged cruise fleet servicing US ports - but not the way NCL has gone about it. There’s just so much deceit and lip service in this whole SS Independence/United States affair that I’m afraid NCL either thinks Americans are A)dumb or B) don’t care.
I think they may find otherwise on both accounts.
BTW, you’re probably already aware, but NCL had to pull one of their cruise ships out of the Hawaiian market last week - that’s been a money losing proposition for them since day 1 - http://starbulletin.com/2008/01/29/business/story01.html
I hope to help further that trend. I think they’ll have a harder time getting such ships flagged US again should the need arise. NCL has no interest in serving the US market other than how many $ they can pull out. Business is business - but how you treat your clients/potential clients DOES say a lot about your organization. Disrespect and arrogance aren’t going to work in NCL’s favor.
I’m actually really feeling like we can make our voice heard - after reading numerous posts on forums and blogs worldwide this last week or two, I think that there’s a significant number of people that have had enough. The Indy offered NCL some fantastic opportunities, and sending her to the breakers was an absolute waste from so many perspectives.
Anyway, I hope we can work together to raise awareness of how NCL has “thanked” the American people for allowing them unprecedented access to our ports. I do believe a little return “thanks” is in order.
February 26th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Jon,
This is Joe Veraldi. I’m the guy with his wife, that met you taking the photos the day they towed the Independence out to sea at the overlook. Great photos and article. If you have any more, please email them to me. I missed the shot as she went under the G.G. Bridge. I was about 30 seconds late.
Great meeting you and looking forwards to hearing from you soon. Thanks for sending this.
Joe
April 6th, 2008 at 8:32 am
I sailed on the Independence in 1985. I also sailed on NCL Pride of Ahola in 2004. What NCL has done to the INDEPENDENCE is disgraceful. My cruise on the Pride of Aloha was the worst cruise I have ever taken. I hope NCL goes bankrupt. It would do the cruise industry a favor, if it would just go away.
April 7th, 2008 at 5:06 am
You’re a lucky man to have sailed the Indy while she was in operation, Bill. All I remember of the ship is its abandoned state.
Let’s hope NCL learns its lesson from running a bad operation.
May 7th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I was licky enough to at least see her a couple of times. What’s such a real shame is that NCL didn’t seem to offer the ship for general sale.
You just know someone would have been interested. Economy sucks right now, but ther’s still money out there for good investments.
I contacted a couple of the local media about this a few months ago, before she was taken away, and they had ZERO interest in it.
“News” these days is really not news, it’s the most sensational tidbits.
Congress doesn’t care (as long as they’re getting kickbacks, who cars if a foreign company breaks the rules?).
If I were on whatever committee decided to let NCL have the ships and their precious US sailing papers, I’d be pissed, quite honestly.
It’s all a money game. We’re the small ones who value sentiment, history, and beauty. I guess the wealthy ones are wealthy for a reason. They climbed and sold 9in so many ways) their way to the top without any real consideration for anyone or anything else.
Kyle Sund
San Francisco.
May 7th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Apology for the typos. I get a little emotional about this stuff.
At least the SS United States has an active fan base.
Just one more thought.
I did see some recent photos of the Indy’s interiors. They were a little dirty, but nothing a good cleaning couldn’t fix. Even being a local, I’d have attended events and stayed the night on here. I don’t have a lot of time or funds for travel, and it would have been a very fun thing to do, spending a night or 2 aboard, even at the dock.
K.S.
May 8th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
KS: I agree with you. Very eloquently stated, and I’m hoping that they get retribution for this. It’s total disregard for the law and blatant payoffs to politicians right in front of our eyes. The NCL America line wouldn’t have existed if it weren’t for the Indy. Once they lost that use for her, she was as good as dead.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Bad news. It got beached in Alang on April 29th.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:10 am
I had been hearing rumors. It really is the end of an era…
June 15th, 2008 at 7:10 am
The satellite photo of Alang on Google Maps shows shows a cruise liner with what might be two funnels. Could that be the Independence? I don’t know how often google refreshes its photos.
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Indy is NOT beached in alang. right now she is in port in dubai india where there is news that there are partys interested in purchasing her and keeping her intact. will post more as i get it