It merely breaking up would'nt necessarily mean the end of the surrounding beaches, it's when they start cutting it up and removing it, that the problem grows. That would mean an end to the immediate beaches and of course the removal of the scrap by road would cause dreadfull problems for the road network. Scrap prices are at a premim just now, and there's no way it would be just left in situ, we've all seen these past few years, that any rules can be broken, when the rewards are big enough in Goa. Whether there would be any tourists still wanting to go to the Candolim area in that scenario, who knows. Alan

It would give us something eles to look at whilst on the beach with no shacks or sunbeds i suppose

Reading some of the trip reports from people who have been visiting Goa for years, sometimes spending months there, I get the feeling that it's not one single thing like the River Princess breraking up that will put these people off, it's a whole raft of things:
from the visa fiasco (and who can say that THAT won't happen again come September), the late issue of shack licences, the tragic murder of a young girl (and the subsequent alleged cover-up by the Police), the enforced early shut-down of music in bars, reports of drug dealers openly offering illegal substances, to the brutal way shacks have been closed as detailed on here by eye-witnesses - it just goes on and on.

I think sadly, the Goa that a lot of us knew and loved is gone, probably for ever.
And I find that incredibly sad.

Polly

Sadly I have to agree with you Polly. We are just back from our second trip this year, and have decided that in future we will only go once. Having gone to Kerela during the last trip, we found the people to be the way they were in Goa 10 years ago. When you walked along the street everyone greeted you and children smiled at you. We do not find this to be the norm in Goa now. We had a bit of a fall out with a taxi driver this trip who gleefully told us that the Goan Government was going to confiscate all properties bought by foreigners, and he was of the opinion that it served them right. He was totally unable to see that the blame for rising land and house prices lay not only with foreign purchasers, but also with Indian out of state purchasers. He then told us he felt that out of state Indians should have their properties confiscated as well. Interestingly he attached no blame to those Goans who had made a profit selling the land which permitted the development in the first place.

What concerned us was that this young lad was entirely dependent on tourism, and would not have been driving his own taxi if it was not for foreigners. When Goans who totally need tourists to survive have such extreme views, what do the Goans who are not directly affected by tourism feel? Needless to say we stopped the car, paid him what we thought was a fair price, he wanted more. He then asked for a tip as he felt he deserved one. I gladly gave him a tip, I told him to try keeping his mouth shut in future.

You're dead right PPC. It's the drip, drip of bad news and changes for the worse that dishearten us.

Having said that, we've been home a couple of months now and I already want to go back next year. Sure, Goa's not what it was but it's still good. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube and you either go with the changes or move on. I think we may well do that, but I think, and hope, there's a couple more years left in Goa before the changes make us try somewhere else.

Sorry Fiona...we going

?
My fault, Fiona.

Maybe these last few comments would better under the topic 'will it ever recover?' as basically that's what we're talking about.
And unfortunately, the general concensus seems to be a resounding 'NO'.

Polly

River Princess update
http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=2900&cid=2

Well that's it then, it looks as if the mine owner is going to get his way after all, now it will be back to the courts, more delays, more damage to the beaches, and the final outcome will be the ruination of the surrounding beaches, when the scrapping eventually gets under way. Alan

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Goa/Goa_govt_dallies_on_River_Princess_file/articleshow/3050136.cms

Looks like more delay.

" River Princess still around, decked with two big holes, a crack across its deck, thousands of tonnes of water and sand"

Well thats about another monsoon over, can anyone give us an update?
Has the savage contract been terminated?
Any sign of work commencing?
If the whole farce was'nt so serious for the beaches and tourism in Goa, it would be laughable, Every monsoon that pases, the likely end is her breaking up where she is, and polluting the coastline. Very sad. Alan

Yes... what's the deal? Seems like this 'old chestnut' has been forgotten about. No doubt we will hear something soon.

Absolutely nothing is what is happening. The government tried to cancel the contract of the compnay which had been appointed to dispose of the ship when they failed to do so in the time allocated. But the governemet lost the case in the court, so presumably the same company will continue to fail to do the job. In the meantime the ship continues to cause huge environmental damage to the beach from where it is grounded up to the Aguada headland.

In the meantime the ship continues to cause huge environmental damage to the beach

Shame on them... this should have been sorted out years ago.

Delaying tactics over the years by the mining companies who wanted to scrap in where it is, has been the reason for this shambles. Now the worldwide recession will come into the equation. The value of the scrap price, when weighed against the cost of salvage, and removal to the shipbreakers in Alang was a touch and go affair, profit wise, and with the cut in demand for scrap products in China and the Far East, and the resultant collapse in scrap metal prices, it now will become an unprofitable affair to continue to attemp to move it. Increased efforts will now be made by interested parties, to have it dismantled on the beach, an ecological disaster for the surrounding beaches, but that wont bother those behind this course of action, Where there's money to be made, the consequences are often of no concern to those involved. Alan

I wonder if the damage done by scrapping it in situ is going to be worse than leaving it where it is for a few more years.
I would imagine the people who are responsible for this situation are hoping that if they wait long enough, nature will deal with it.

Could be getting past the time when a patch and tow job would have worked. Its not just the plates that will
be corroded but the frames and structures must be getting well rotten by now. Its back could easily break with
any movment, never mind a tug towing it. It looks like they may have to butcher her on the beach, like some
wanted from the very begining.

sorry, link will not work, deleted now
link was to you tube,......... possibly a conflict because of copyright?

we dont allow you tube links I'm afraid Del

no problem