these two articles were in the Navhind Times on the same day
http://www.navhindtimes.in/goa-news/salgaocar-ready-remove-river-princess-free-cost
just love the line that says "Mr Salgaocar, also a member of the state legislative assembly"
http://www.navhindtimes.in/goa-news/govt-seek-hc-directions-princess-removal

http://www.oheraldo.in/news/Local%20News/SDMA-still-all-at-sea-on-removing-Princess/40669.html
The latest dodgy dealings on this long running scandel, The Calangute MP hit it on the head when he said it was a big conspiracy, and that the mining companies real aim was to have the vessel break up on it's own, and that will get them off the hook. A typical murky Goan state of affairs
Alan

http://www.navhindtimes.in/goa-news/fresh-tender-soon-princess-removal

Same old, same old, On the Goverments time scale, if anyone was foolish enough to waste time and energy to join the long list of companies who have tendered, by the time the tender was awarded, it would be the end of December, leaving the winner about six months to assemble a workforce, and complete this, it's simply impossible.
I dont think there can be any doubt in anyones mind now, that vested interests behind the scenes, will block any attempt by anyone to carry out this task. It's gone way beyond farce now, another monsoon next year, further destruction to Sinquerm beach, on and on it goes.
I dont know what the Goan people can do about all this,regardless of which group of polititicans is in power, the end result is the same, whenever a solution appears possible, it will quickly be thwarted, and the usual solution is put in place, back to the courts, then ask for fresh tenders, and that means another year gone by with nothing done. It's obvious now, the monsoons will do the work, and the R.P. will slowly disintigrate over the years, and the surrounding beaches along with her. Tragic is it not.
Alan

hi thought this may interest you

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Emergency-global-tender-for-River-Princess-removal/articleshow/6739224.cms

http://www.oheraldo.in/news/Local%20News/Agnelo-doubts-Princess-removal-before-monsoon/41871.html

So, a UK firm has made it to the last four!!!

http://www.oheraldo.in/news/Local%20News/Princess-saga-continues-Panel-to-finalise-bidder-today/42758.html

And here are the results of the tenders!!!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Lowest-bid-for-Princess-removal-is-99-crore/articleshow/6904355.cms

So will it be bye bye River Princess??

Out of the four selected tenders, the one with the least experience is also the cheapest, and says they will complete the job in the shortest time, i.e. before the start of the next monsoon. I would expect the Goan Goverment to pick them, and when the task is not completed by next May, the whole circus will start again.
Alan

My thoughts precisely gramps.

By the time the bribes have been paid there will be nothing left anyway.

Papa

Spot on gramps !

Fast forward ten years.

This thread is on page 423 and the old girl sits there her keel refusing to free itself from the sand the coast now ruined all the way to Calangute steps countless people with no livelyhood.

The politicians still raking in the bribes from the tenders and Goa all but finished as a tourist destinaton.

The worlds press condemns the failure of the government to prevent the terrible destruction of one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

The Goan government yet again comes up with a plan to shift the wreck once and for all.

They just need to invite bids...........

Papa

Spot on Papa

I find the 2 posts by Gramps and Papa incredibly depressing but also I fear they are both likely to be sadly true.

It's so hard to believe that this has been going on so long and, instead of a positive way forward, things are no further forward - in fact, I dread to think how much worse the beach is likely to be when we next go.

I remember the shock I felt when we walked down to the beach from the Victor Exotica in Feb 2003 and saw the RP for the first time - we could never have imagined that almost 8 years on it would still be there - or the devastation it would cause to that lovely beach.

As expected the Goverment has gone for the cheapest option
http://www.oheraldo.in/news/Main%20Page%20News/Arihant-bags-Princess-for-Rs-99-cr/42823.html
They say in the article that they will remove it seawards, which means this will be limited to tides, cutting down further on the chance of the ship being gone by next summer. I would imagine the cutting up and removal will cause untold pollution, and be a death knell to any shack in the vicinity, how far along this will spread towards the main section of Candolim beach remains to be seen. At the end of this season I'll be amazed if the job is completed, I just hope I'm wrong
Alan

I just hope I'm wrong

Gramps, I hope you're wrong too - but I fear you will be right.

hiya, at last they have reopen the promenade at cleverleys, we had the RIVER DANCE stranded on the beach for ages, they got the contractors in and they cut it up in bits and it seemed to take a long time, it was bad as well because they closed the beach in that area while they had all the heavy machinery there.

how many people fancy a winter away in goa and get rid of this wreck once and for all/ so that people can get on with their holidays and forget about this wreck once and for all.
smudger2

I share Gramps cynicism - the prospect of the RP being removed in 180 days with little preparation time before the work is scheduled to commence seems a tall order and pollution along the coast must be a concern.

At least they've given the contract to ship breakers with some experience this time instead of a salvage company - the time for salvaging the RP seems long past.

I'll be interested to see what progress (if any) has been made when we visit Goa in January - hopefully no pollution of the Baga beaches! Given the performance of the Goan government and the history of the RP probably nothing will have happened - other than another bout of legal challenges to stall proceedings.

The River Princess episode and the Goan governments behaviour in it have done Goa a deal of harm both physically and in the way the country is perceived - symptomatic of the malaise that blights large sections of Goan life. On first acquaintance it seems quaint but once you see the corruption and the self serving nature of Goan government it's not so attractive. They really do seem set on a course that will destroy what made Goa an attractive tourist destination and replace it with - well, with nothing coherent that will compete on the world stage.

I sincerely hope they do actually remove the RP this time and don't cause damage to the rest of the coast. I'm not likely to see the outcome though as we have other places we want to visit so aren't likely to be back in Goa for sometime after our January trip.

The problem with shipbreakers is that almost without exception, they work from designated shipbreaking facilities.
In the case of the Sub-Continent, the standard procedure is for a ship to arrive at the shipbreaking facility under it's own power, anchor well offshore, all surples fuel will be taken off, and then they will wait to the months highest tide where they will then sail the ship at full speed up the shore. That then enables them to start scrapping from the front of the ship, dragging all pieces after burning, ashore. In the RPs case shes did'nt go ashore at high tide, and the route out for the scrap is seawards, which leaves them a limited tidal window to work on. This would make completing the task in the alloted time very doubtfull. I can find out vey little about this company, I dont think they are one of the big players, and appear to be in partnership with a private individual. All in all I'm not very hopefull that we'll see a end to this sorry saga by next monsoon, but fingers crossed anyway
Alan