SS SeaBreeze

The "SS Sea Breeze" (formerly "Federico C", "Royale", "StarShip Royale") was a cruise ship operated by several companies.

History

This ship was built in 1958 by the Ansaldo Sestri Ponente shipyard in Italy as the "Federico C". The ship was operated by the Costa Line until 1983. In 1983, Premier Cruises obtained the ship and named it the "Royale"; it became the "StarShip Royale"' in the same year. In 1988, the ship became the "Sea Breeze" was marketed under the Dolphin Cruises label. In 1989, the ship was refurbished. The ship became marketed under the Premier Cruises label in 1997. When Premier went out of business in September 2000, the ship was put under arrest in Halifax Harbour. [cite news |title= For sale: one cruise ship |url= http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2000/10/24/ns_cruisect001024.html|publisher= CBC News |date=2000-10-24 |accessdate=2008-05-09 ]

inking

In December 2000, it sank off the coast of North Carolina/Virginia. when the ship's boiler allegedly broke off and damaged the ship. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCP/is_5_22/ai_71821966 SeaBreeze Sinks - cruise ship sinks off Virginia coast] ]

The investigation into the sinking of the "Seabreeze I" caused international concern, based upon numerous suspicious incidents, including the fact that the ship was likely to fetch only between $5 and $6 million for scrap, but had a $20 million insurance policy on it. The cruise ship sank in international waters flying the Panamanian flag, making Panama responsible for the investigation of the sinking of the boat.

The ship's captain told U.S. Coast Guard rescuers that his boat was in imminent danger of sinking as a result of its engine room being flooded in heavy seas. At the time, the Coast Guard rescuers believed that it was highly unlikely for a ship that large to sink that quickly, and were astonished when the Greek captain demanded that he be exfiltrated from his boat, rather than stay aboard it and try to shepherd it to shore and recovery.

At the time of the sinking, Steven Cotton of the International Transport Workers Federation in London stated that he wished that the ship, which went down convert|225|nmi|km|0 off the Virginia coast, had gone down convert|25|nmi|km|0 closer to the coast because that would have put the case in the hands of American investigators.

According to Cotton, "Panama's track record of carrying out comprehensive investigations into vessel sinkings is not very good." [cite news |title=Cruise ship sinking may never be fully investigated |url=http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2000/12/21/seabreeze001221.html |publisher=CBC News |date=2000-12-21 |accessdate=2008-05-09 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/ships/pr_seabr.asp Review of the Seabreeze]