Late this afternoon I came across a news item of interest, that a cruise ship carrying 1,200 passengers has been detained in New York by the U.S. Coast Guard for safety violations.  In fact they found 66 violations including damage to the hull.  And, none of the news organizations appeared to know the ship’s name or cruise line.

HUH?  That’s certainly a first for me.  I mean, you can’t tell the name or owner of the ship?  Impossible.

Granted, it took a bit of digging but here are the details.  The name of the ship is The Peace Boat, charted by a non-profit Japanese outfit, Peaceboat , which sails around the globe “to promote peace, human rights, equal and sustainable development and respect for the environment.”  The ship was sailing between Greenland and Venezuela when the Coast Guard decided to board the ship and inspect it.  

Ships don’t normally have holes in their hull but given this ship’s history, it’s understandable.  According to Wikipedia, the Peace Boat was built in 1955 as the Empress of Britain sailing transatlantic between Canada and Europe. In 1975, she was purchased by Carnival Cruise lines as one of the original “Fun Ships”, the Carnivale.  From 1993 through 1997 she sailed for Epirotiki and Royal Olympic as the Festa Marina and Olympic.  Today she is owned by Topaz Holdings of Greece, which charters the ship to the Peace Boat folks.

There may be a vessel built before 1955 that is still afloat, but I can’t find it.

According to local media, passengers are delighted to hang out in New York while Topaz Holdings’ owners figure out how to correct the safety problems.  And it’s nice to know that not all geriatic vessels are immediately sold for scrap metal, as the SS Norway  was two years ago.