we came back april 18th and a chap we spoke to said he has it on good authority that they are not going to move the ship,instead they are going to cut it up where it is

I will be very surprised if the ship is towed off by this company None of the recognised salvage companies such as Schmitt Salvage was interested and the company, Crosschem, has not as far as I know any expertise in this field When the goverment ministers started saying the engines had been stolen,something patently impossible, it started being dodgy. The only way to salvage it, and make money is to cut it up where it is, I think thats what all the stalling is for as if you leave it long enough the monsoon storms will break it up for you and you then have no option but salvage it where it is. Anyone who has seen film or photos of how they do it in Alang where it would have been towed knows it will wipe out the beach at Candolim as a tourist destination for ages It has been a disaster waiting to happen and I cant see a happy ending to the whole sorry saga

There is a thread on this forum from SteveM which is a section from I think the Herald saying that May 20th is the deadline for removal.

As far as I am aware...and there are several different versions flying about........the idea is to cut away as much as possible in situ and float/ hand carry this across the beach; seal the bow section; pump out the water and sand and float the hull away. This was certainly the view of the locals we spoke to back in March and was confirmed by reports in at least one Goan newspaper.

It is true that the Company that got the tender has no experience of this type of salvage but it was a condition that the hull be towed and not broken up in situ. I believe it is a British Company (at least British Registered) that is doing the work and I would doubt they would take iton without being reasonably sure that it could be done but I guess time will tell.

there was an article on the navhind times yesterday about it, apparently the government is getting itchy about it all as none of the deadlines are going to be met.

did you read on goanet that a worker was killed on the river princess, this week? he was crushed between a plate that was ment for the hole and some sort of pole, and the authirities are not happy as it wasnt reported to the police for a few hours later,

I read that Maggie,not too good and an inquirey into that could take ages but they still say they will hit the 20th May deadline.As for Crosschem it looks as though they have taken the salvage rights on and contracted out a team that knows what it is doing...........maybe ?

whatever you do dont hold your breath!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Came home today, and report on workers death is correct. Also, sad to say but oil is being washed up on Candolim Beach on a regular basis. Still, a big shout out to Alex and the boys at Claudinas, Blaise, Reddy, ram and Dilip at Fishermans cove and also Sanjay, our "Gopher" on the beach for 3 weeks. Respect !!

Hi sarah jane, You mentioned Ram and Reddy is Dangerous Brian still in fishermans, I have spoken to ram recently but we are having trouble emailing, Ram and brian used to take my son out clubbing last time we were there, what lovely guys they are,and so hard working, my favourite place for a great night.

Didn't know Brian, but have pm'd you

Anyone have an update on this thread?

I spoke to my friend Sanjay across the weekend and asked how the removal was going.

After he finished laughing he said "I thought you understood Indian bureaucracy better than that, it will never be moved"

Anyway he seems to think that unless there's work going on inside the hull there is no chance of it being moved by the 20th May and has serious doubts if it will ever be moved.

Mentioned oil to him and he said there is oil on the beach but not a great deal and noone seems to know if it is from the River Princess or the tanker that got hit by the iron ore freighter.

Its all speculation really so if anyone has anything definitive then I'd love to know.

Just read a bit on the net re the ship, the goverment is now saying there is no hurry to move the ship and has extended the time for Crosschem to complete the removal The Goverment is also now admitting that the company has no experience in towing, but only in scrapping ships already berthed,!!! I wonder what has been going on inside the vessel these last few months??? It would come as no surprise to me if during the monsoon storms the ship was to be damaged sufficiently to make salvage on site the only option That has been the hidden agenda by a lot of people from the very start, Could you imagine a goverment in the Med allowing this tragedy to unfold on one of it's prime tourist beaches and believe me it will be a tragedy for Goa if the scrapping is done where it lies as it is now looking likely

I spoke to a couple of guys in Goa last night, the rain has started and the boat is being moved in the next few days.

Apparently, there has been a sudden hurry up because of all the oil, and it does sound like quite a lot of oil, being washed up.

Hi Fritz, is that our type of hurry or the Goan type of hurry
Seriously though, I hope they can get it shifted sooner rather than later. It would be terrible if the beaches were ruined by being covered in oil, and more importantly what damage is being done to the sealife?

http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=060513

latest info

Thanks Mrstella:) Corrupt practices in Goa, I don't believe it

help me on this one??????
they said its been on the beach nearly 5 years? but it was grounded there on 12 june 2002!!??
""IS THAT GOAN 5 YEARS ""
HAVE I HAD A LONG KIP OR SOMETHING??

nah its a typo was grounded in 2000 not 2002.

What is the story on the River Princess, what was the captain doing that close to the beach in the first place?