Goa Discussion Forum

Discussions regarding holidays in Goa.
Re: River Princess
797 Posts
Reply
I thought ships had to be broken up a certain distance from the general public for asbestos and any other toxic materials aboard them.
Reply
:rofl :rofl oh what health and safety you mean!!! :rofl
chilly
Reply
Thats true, but this is India. I would imagine any asbestos around will be located in the engineroom, perhaps lagging on pipes and the like, and easily bagged and disposed of, if they so wish. However I'm sure that they will say it's clear of anything like that anyway.
It was an issue a couple of years ago up at the big shipbreakers at Alang, and some ships were refused because of their asbestos content, mostly it is a problem with older ships, and as it's only 30 years since she was built, they had stopped using asbestos by then anyway.
Alan
Reply
I've been away for a couple of days and am just catching up on this. It's a great shame for Ganesh shack - we weren't Ganesh "regulars" but always visited a couple of times during our stays and he ran a really nice shack with good food. I feel really sorry for the shacks down there. A few years ago we used "Sea Waves" shack which was down near the Taj. It was completely decimated two years ago with the shifting tides and is no longer there. Very sad for the people who put so much effort into their shacks.

I know nothing about how to move shipwrecks but it's obvious that it should have been done many years ago. I guess there's no pain free way of doing it now that it's in such a state and I just hope that Ganesh and the other shack operators are able to get through this difficult time.

I'm relieved that at last something seems to happening but it really is desperately sad for the businesses that will be affected and the people who have booked accommodation in that area. I hope our fears of a protracted no go area are unfounded. It's just that the way this has been handled so far doesn't inspire much confidence that there will be a swift and effective resolution to the RP problem.
Reply
I have emailed Nelson at the Horizon View which is at the top off the access road and whilst he says that they will be using that road he doesnt think that there will be much traffic until the season is over as he believes the ship will be dismantled then cut into smaller pieces before being stored on the beach. Then when the roads are quieter the trucks will roll. Hes not saying there wont be some traffic but not too much until nearer end of season. We shall see !
Reply
Interesting news......
Meanwhile, Arihant Ship Breakers have started mobilising equipments for cutting the vessels into pieces, which will be then moved seawards to be taken to the scrapyard.
Does this mean it wont be going by road...... :think Keith
Reply
Could well be going both ways !
Reply
Interesting - from reading that and what is going round via the tom-toms, the shacks will still come down but nothing will happen.. Disruption for those shack owners to drag on for as long as the RP has been there ? Who knows..
Reply
Don't worry.
I have seen the answer.
A report on MSN tells that the Titanic is being eaten by bacteria and that only has another 20 years to go.
The Titanic sank 100 years ago so if it takes 120 years for it to be eaten away altogether we only have to wait 110 years for the RP to go.
Now, thats a relief :rofl
Reply
from reading that and what is going round via the tom-toms, the shacks will still come down but nothing will happen.. Disruption for those shack owners to drag on for as long as the RP has been there ? Who knows..

I hope they don't pull the shacks down until they absolutely have to, Spike.

It's bad enough that they are losing their livelihood through no fault of their own but they should at least be allowed to continue trading until the land is actually required.
Reply
This being Goa I would imagine the shacks will be the first to come down. Not sure about them taking it out by sea as well, as it will first have to come ashore into the customs compound. They are hardly likely, after customs have released the scrap, then struggle it back down the beach to reload it onto whatever at high tide.I simply cant get my head around this customs nonsense. There's nothing of value left apart from the steel, and most of that is rust anyway, not sure what the duty on rust is.
Alan
Reply
only in Goa would you see the indian Goverment making money from rust :rofl :rofl
Reply
nothing simple in India is there. The article says the ship is owned by the Goan Tourist Board but they, although part of India, now have to pay 10% tax to the Indian Goverment. The fact she was foreign flagged is simply a red herring. The country that a vessel is "flagged" to, does not own the vessel, it's merely registered there for tax matters and for conditions of employing crew. The last person to "own" the vessel was in actual fact the Goan mining company, who had her on bare boat charter at the time of the grounding.The truth of the matter is that the whole customs carry on is simply another layer of bureaucracy, which creates more chances of yet more people getting a piece of the action. Very Indian.
Alan
Reply
get real if it wasnt for some of the 10 shacks we wount be back to goa dont care about the RP as long as the fishing is good and the fireworks roll on March xxxxxxxx
Reply
I'm surprised that someone who has visited Goa before can take the attitude of the last poster. One beach is already lost owing to the erosion caused by this vessel, lots of shacks on Sinquerm lost their livelihood because of this, but as far as Blues Brother is concerned thats fine, as long as the fishing and fireworks are ok everythings fine as far as he's concerned. I suppose it takes all sorts !
Alan
Reply
I imagine that the poster goes to either Calangute or Baga, where the RP doesn't make its presence felt.
But its also fair to say that I doubt that many of recent converts to Goa, myself included, don't have the same affinity to the place that you do Alan.
I view the RP itself as a minor inconvenience, the damage to the beach is another matter altogether.
I find it difficult to be particularly concerened about the shack owners losing their livelihoods, as by and large I don't know them and part of business is that it goes up and down .... everywhere.
That doesn't mean that I don't feel sympathy for them, I do, but there is little that I can do.
So I go there to have a holiday and enjoy, in my case it doesn't include fishing or fireworks but each to their own I guess.
Maybe the poster COULD have been a bit more diplomatic on the subject though :)
Reply
Well thats interesting to read, not getting any response on up-dates from Ganesh shack at the moment (bet he is fed up and confused as to whats coming next). Good on them for not taking the shacks down - still dosen't make sense to take them down if they are not storing or cutting scrap on the beach, they say they need somewhere to store cutting equipment - have they thought of putting it on the RP ?
Have always liked Sinquerim beach - some great shacks down there to call in after a decent stroll. Have said on previous visits, whatever is still standing down that end needs support from everyone, so if you can still manage a crawl over the exposed rocks/sand bags - get in for a drink and a bite to eat.
Going to take a hell of a long time for the beach to recover once the RP has gone, lets hope we all see a change in a few years.
Wish they would just get on with it now..
Reply
Holiday Truths Forum

Post a Reply

Please sign in or register an account to reply to this post.

Sign in / Register

Holiday Truths Forum Ship image

Get the best deals!

from our cruise, ski and holiday partners

You can change your email preferences at any time.

Yes, I want to save money by receiving personalised travel emails with awesome deals from Holiday Truths group companies which are hotholidays.co.uk,getrcuising.co.uk and getskiing.co.uk. By subscribing I agree to the Privacy Policy

No, thank you.