It has been known for decades that the Freewinds, the ship where OT VIII was being traditionally delivered was riddled with Blue asbestos, a common component in ship building during the 1950s and 1960s.

In the United States, since the early 1970s asbestos, by Law, is forbidden in construction. It is probably why L. Ron Hubbard who returned to the United states in 1975, has made no mention of it in his numerous "advices" which Church officials follow like if it were pure Gospel.

Therefore in 1989 when the architect Lawrence Woodcraft was appaled and concerned by Blue asbestos floating all over the air as crew was renovating it, Church staff in charge dismissed every one of his statements because "Hubbard never spoke agaisnt Asbestos", a statement as silly and irresponsible as if one were to say it is permissible to feed staff raw sewage, as Hubbard never wrote anything specifically forbidding the practice.

It is of further interested to see that most dictionairies including Webster and world Book, both dictionnairies endorsedby the Church, defines asbestos as a compound "no longer in use due Cancer concerns". The church in its SHSBC glossary and in the new books glossay published in 2007, has that statement omitted.

What is particularly reprehensible is that the Church requires its staff during the refurbishing to be exposed to Blue Sbestos dust, just like over 100 staff were ordered to work (most of them without a mask) with the air thick with blue asbestos dust for months, when the Freewinds was originall prepared in 1988-1989. No extra compensation was ever considered for those staff (many of them in the RPF) . On the contrary, lenghty "intelligence files" were gathered on each person to make them feel guilty for their "awful trangressions" agaisnt the CHurch, when in fact they were nothing short of slave labour and were expected to work for no compensation and accept the mere contemplation of the promises of Scientology as their salary. Most of them received nothing. None of those staff made it on the OT Levels, unless he was already there. Many left the CHurch either broken, or no longer believeing Scientology even worked.







Daily Herald, St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles 28 April 2008

"WILLEMSTAD: During refurbishing and reparatory work, which involved  removing the ceiling and panelling on cruise ship Freewinds, blue asbestos was released and ended up in the ventilation system.

Freewinds' captain did not report this when it's own personnel were working on the ship on the Mathey warf in Otrobanda. The Curacao Drydock Company (CDM), where the ship was taken for reparatory work on the hull, heard from the surveyor that there may be asbestos on the ship. The captain acknowledged the incident and said that after the incident Freewinds had some investigation done.

Keeping the incident quiet became more noticeable when it turned out that the 40-year-old ship contained blue asbestos.

The question is whether or not the blue asbestos dust, which can cause cancer, can be removed from the ship. The CDM has stopped all work on the ship.

The shipwas sealed and isolated and experts will investigate and measure the presence of asbestos dust in the hull and surrounding areas. Commissioners EugeneRhuggenaath (Economic Affairs) and Humphrey Davelaar (Public Health)  said on Friday.

CDM interim director Frank Esser, deputy head of the Department of Labour Affairs Christiene van der Biezen were accompanied by two inspectors and head of the health Department Tico Ras. Samples taken from the panelling last week by inspectors that were sent to the Netherlands showed that they containedsignificant amounts of blue asbestos. After an extraordinary meeting,  theExecutive Council decided to inform the public in general about the incident to avoid rumours and panic.

The CDM personnel were also informed via the media because it was impossible to gather all the workers Friday evening to personally give them the  information."

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Published on Lloyd List: the ultimate Naval Information Source, published continualy since 1734


Rainbow Nelson - Wednesday 7 May 2008

A PANAMA-flagged cruiseship used by the Church of Scientology as its ultimate spiritual retreat remains sealed after a health scare forced refurbishment of the vessel being carried out by Curaçao Drydock Co to be suspended.

Work on the vessel’s interior was halted on Freewinds 10 days ago after health inspectors from the government of the island of Curaçao said they had found traces of blue asbestos aboard the 1968-built vessel.

The Det Norske Veritas-classed vessel was undergoing a refit, including renovations of all cabins and accommodations facilities, as well as upgrading navigational and nautical safety equipment to meet maritime codes scheduled for implementation in 2010.

Panama-based San Donato Properties is the registered owner, with Majestic Cruise Line listed as the beneficial owner. Both are controlled by the international arm of the Church of Scientology.

Curaçao Drydock’s interim director Frank Esser and the head of Curaçao’s department of labour affairs, Christiene van der Biezen, were accompanied on an inspection of the vessel on April 25 by two inspectors and the head of the local health department, Tico Ras.

Refurbishment work was suspended following the inspection and a ‘clean-up’ team contracted to remove traces of the carcinogenic substance over the holiday weekend.

Until the air safety levels return to normal, the vessel will remain sealed to workers of the state-owned shiprepair specialist, said an expert at the local health authority.

A decision on whether to allow work to continue will be taken upon the arrival of flag state inspectors and further inspections by experts from the Netherlands, said the health authority expert.

He said there was no risk that passengers would have come into contact with the toxic dust as it was released during the refurbishment works.

The Panama Maritime Authority said it will be sending technical representatives this week to plot a course of action with DNV and the ship’s owner.

“We are sending someone so that they can tell us what happened, where it came from, since when it has been there,” said Panama Maritime Authority’s director of merchant marine Alfonso Castillero. “What is required is to repair the problem immediately and later, when the technical surveyor in charge gives me the answers to these questions, Panama will take any action that merits with class or the ship.”

A director at Curaçao Drydock said the ship was scheduled to leave the drydock some time this week.

Freewinds has operated as an exclusive retreat for the Church of Scientology since 1988.

The Church of Scientology Flag Ship Service Organisation uses the vessel as a spiritual retreat for the most dedicated followers of the controversial religion. It is the only place where Scientologists can reach Operating Thetan VIII, the highest level attainable in the religion. ***

Other religious programs are conducted aboard, including religious conventions and seminars for staff and parishioners of churches of Scientology from around the world.

The ship has used Curaçao as its homeport since it was acquired and upgraded for use by the Church in the late 1980s.

A spokesperson for the church in Los Angeles told Lloyd’s List that it was reviewing the situation.

In an earlier statement published on the internet, the Church of Scientology’s director of public affairs, Karin Pouw, said: “The Freewinds regularly inspects the air quality on board and always meets or exceeds US standards.

“Inspections done on April 15, 2008 and April 28, 2008 again confirmed that the air quality is safe, in accordance with the standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the US Clean Air Act.

“Freewinds is being restored to better than new condition and no expense has ever been spared in meeting the highest safety standards of any seagoing vessel,” the statement continued. “The Freewinds will be completing its refit on schedule.”

Note by Web page Publisher:

*** OT VIII  may be achieved properly without any risk of Asbestos exposure outside the CHurch of Scientology. Ask for a competent auditor in the Independent Field outside the CHurch for details

OT VIII has been done on the Freewinds is largely the works or Ray Mithoff (declared persona non Grata by current Management) and David Miscavige, someone who never trained beyond his provisional Class IV certificate, now long expired. It bears only a vague ressemblance with the latter part of the original OT VIII written by L. Ron Hubbard. One of the original OT VIII bulletins (clearly labelled - SECRET OT VIII) can be found on the original Class VIII Course and can be verfied to bears absolutely no ressemblance with what is currently taught aboard the Freewinds.