Peace Boat Update

Posted on 21. Jul, 2008 @ 5:37 pm by in About, Travel Views: 1,308

In South Tampa news…

Japanese Peace Cruise To Pause In Tampa For Repairs

By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 21, 2008

Updated: 12:54 pm

TAMPA – A cruise ship chartered by a Japan-based organization that promotes peace will arrive in Tampa today and disgorge about 900 passengers as the ship undergoes repairs to its hull.

The ship, Clipper Pacific, is on a cruise around the world to promote human rights, peace and sustainable development and is chartered by Peace Boat.

A routine Coast Guard safety inspection when the vessel arrived at a New York port on July 13 uncovered safety problems and deterioration of the hull. Temporary repairs in New York made the ship seaworthy enough to travel to Tampa.

A maritime agency in Tampa that’s working with the ship’s owners has found hotel rooms in Tampa and Orlando for all the passengers, said Sandy Naugle, who works with the agency, Eller Maritime Services. The passengers are expected to stay two nights, Naugle said.

The ship will be placed in drydock at Tampa Bay Ship Repair, and ultrasonic images will be made of the hull to check for thickness, said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Carroll, chief of the inspection division for a Coast Guard unit based in St. Petersburg. The hull has deteriorated over time, in part because it sat for four years in a Turkish harbor, Carroll said.

New York was the first U.S. destination the ship reached, so it was the ship’s first Coast Guard inspection. All ships entering U.S. ports are inspected.

In addition to problems with the hull, the inspection found shortcomings with the ship’s firefighting equipment, the condition of lifeboats and lifejackets and with emergency plans and procedures, Carroll said.

The Clipper Pacific is relatively old for a cruise ship, commissioned in 1969. And at 637 feet, it’s smaller than most modern cruise ships.

In addition to the approximately 900 passengers, the ship has a crew of 150.

Peace Boat made its first voyage in 1983. This cruise left Japan in May and is scheduled to be back in Japan on Aug. 25.

In Harvey news… My wife is off the boat. She got off in New York and cut her trip short. Venezuela has been cut out of the PeaceBoat itinerary for this voyage due to this delay, but she will miss out on Panama, the Panama Canal, Guatemala, Mexico, Canada, and Alaska. Part of the reason she got off was that I was concerned about safety, so I’ll have to be sure to make it up to her in the future. Should be easy, we’ve been to Canada… and Mexico and Central America aren’t far away at the moment!

- Harvey

  • kikuchi

    元気が一番。

    by the way, there are any informations about the probrem in the peaceboat website… ひどいね。

  • http://www.japannewbie.com Harvey

    菊池英語があぶないところで間違ってんで！ “there is NOT any information”って言いたいでしょう？うん、でもわかるわかる。PeaceBoatは絶対この問題を発表しないと思う。62回目のvoyageの日程もそのままになってるし。問題があったら正直に認めてよ！ってかんじだな。ま〜仕方がないかな。妻から聞いたのは、次のvoyageの募集人数がまだ足りてないって。どうしたんだろう。

  • Miyuki

    It was a right decision your wife left the ship earlier than schedule. Yes, safety is the top priority! (but I wonder who will take over your wife’s work afterwards? don’t care?)
    You must be happy with your wife now!

  • kikuchi

    恥ずかしい間違いだった。Junior High school Gradeだ。穴があったら入りたい。（英語でなんていうんだろう）

    今回の問題は2chでも話題になってるみたいだし、だんだん評判悪くなってるんじゃないか？

  • http://www.japannewbie.com Harvey

    菊池！穴はあるよ！船に！ Haha.

    Wow it’s news on 2ch? Where? Show me a link I’m curious!

  • kikuchi

    OK! Let’s jump into the hole on the boat!

    Here you are（ ・∀・）つ
    —
    http://www.google.co.jp/search?hl=ja&q=%E3%83%94%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88+%E6%95%B4%E5%82%99+site%3A2ch.net&lr=

    http://news24.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/news5plus/1216297249/l50
    —

    And i found that your previous blog entry is quoted by the site below. Have you checked yet?

    http://www.mypress.jp/v2_writers/hirosan/

  • Joe

    My favorite comment from 2ch:
    “peace of shit boat”

  • http://www.japannewbie.com Harvey
  • Ivan Plaap

    why do you, Harvery, engage in this puerile gossip mongering ? It’s as though you are delighting in Peace Boat’s misfortune.

    What an easy target. For years it has had mud slung at it by the right wing, negative people,
    and idiots. Don’t be one of them.

  • http://www.japannewbie.com Harvey

    Gossip? It’s factual information.

    Just letting people know the boat is still in Florida. You can’t know that from the PeaceBoat website.

    Those who know me understand that I’m as lefty as they come. Just the other day I recommended that a friend try out for PeaceBoat as an English teacher. The program is great. The predicament they have gotten themselves into this time is not.

  • Ivan Plaap

    PB was victim of a 狙い撃ち検査, possibly because they were heading to Venezuela with its anti-US stance.

    The hatred and vitriol espoused on some of the blogs, especially thh 2channel one, are typical of the criticism PB has always faced. Tall poppies get hacked down.

    I personally have been involved with the organization and I can vouch that the passengers in 98% of cases have the time of their lives.
    As you would expect from an NGO there are shortcomings with human resources and administration sometimes. Unflexible and anally-retentive people should definitely not apply.

  • Ivan Plaap

    Hiro is a well-known hater of Peace Boat
    and regularly spews venom on his blog.

    What happened to you hiro ? got a bit sea sick ?

    All of the above claims are slanderous and untrue.

    (1) The founder was not related to the Red Army –
    where is your proof for this ? Provide proofif you are going to make spurious claims.

    (2) Core staff are not sympathisers of North Korea – again – what is this remark based on ? As I know them all personally I can say with 100% confidence that this is rubbish. Peace Boat has declared many times that its mission is to build a grass-roots network of friendship among citizens of all countries in South East Asia, reaching a consensus about history, acknowledging the wrongs of the past and moving forward together. Nothing sinister at all.

    You are a liar !!

    (3) What is this based on ? On a recent cruise, Korean residents of Sakhalin who were abducted by the Japanese during the war and have remained there came onboard, had a wedding ceremony (they are in their 70s)

    http://www.peaceboat.org/english/voyg/49/lob/050601/index.html
    In honor of the recent wedding of Mr. Sun and Ms. Mai Dia, Peace Boat organized a wedding reception for them before they disembarked in Singapore. Under a blue sky, the couple walked down a red carpet aisle and were congratulated by the ship’s captain, Mr. Yoshioka, the director of Peace Boat, as well as the participants who came to witness the ceremony. The two have known each other since they were young. When their previous partners passed away, they rekindled their friendship and eventually married. “Some people may laugh at us for getting married at such an old age,” said Mr. Sun, in his 60s. “But we don’t care because we love each other.” The ceremony concluded with a champagne toast and wedding cake.

    Any more lies Hiro ? I will refute every single one. Just like people who claim Peace Boat is a religious organization or part of Sokka Gakkai.
    It isn’t ! it does what it says on the website.

  • Joe

    OK Ivan, quid pro quo:

    “PB was victim of a 狙い撃ち検査, possibly because they were heading to Venezuela with its anti-US stance.”

    where is your proof for this ? Provide proofif you are going to make spurious claims.

  • Ivan Plaap

    Joe – ask Hiro this because it was on his blog that the phrase
    nerai uchi kensa was used. Remember I said “possibly” – the reason being that how could I have proof that this is the case ?

    Hiro on the other hand is making concrete assertions about things that anyone who has been involved with the NGO can see are
    just absolutely ridiculous.

    As we all know that arguing on an internet forum is useless I am not interested in getting involved in a tit-for-tat.

    I am happy to reiterate that Hiro has some strange grudge towards Peace Boat, and that everyone I have ever met who has been on it, young and old (I’m talking thousands of people here) had the time of their lives.

    Trying to tenuously link Peace Boat to shady organizations in the past such as the Red Army or claiming that they endorse
    an evil regime in North Korea just smacks of someone clutching at straws. If you have some valid criticism to make then do so – otherwise stop spreading disinformation.

  • Ivan

    which parts of them are correct, I think is the main issue.

    So if Nerai uchi kensa is a lie, that proves my point that your blog spreads disinformation, doesn’t it !

    Try not to make yourself look any more stupid than you have already

  • Joe

    Ivan, you didn’t say that PB was possibly a victim of nerai uchi kensa. You said that it _was_ a victim of nerai uchi kensa, and then proceeded to give a possible reason for it. And you didn’t attribute a source for it, making it a concrete assertation on your part.

    But I really don’t give a hoot about the political arguments. I care about an organization that takes $15000 from people and puts them on a boat with dozens of safety violations, and is not entirely upfront about it. People need more information to know what they are getting themselves into.

  • Ivan Plaap

    ask Hiro, it was on his blog.
    How would I know ? Just repeating what I read till I realized who the person writing it was.

    He drags all these stale rumours out to anyone who would listen.

    the truth is that PB has always been over-subscribed by both young and old people. It is such a fantastic experience.

    teething problems and minor safety indiscretions are of course not desirable and the shipping company must foot the bill for the first class hotels that the passengers have been enjoying in Tampa.

  • http://www.japannewbie.com Harvey

    For those who care about the state of the cruise…
    Still in Florida. They found new safety issues so the hotel stay has been extended.

    http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/tourism/article739538.ece

    Another semi interesting thing. I have come across a lot of blogs or articles from people who are simply boat geeks… And follow the state of cruse ships around the world. Like this guy.

    http://goldringtravel.blogspot.com/2008/07/clipper-pacific-update-still-in-tampa.html

    These people have never heard of the PeaceBoat program, but are just noticing this incident because it’s so rare that a cruise ship comes into a US port damaged. Boat geeks. Gotta love em.

    - Harvey

  • Steve

    Why is Ivan making up imaginary conversations of some guy named “Hiro”? I don’t see any Hiro posting here…

  • Ivan Plaap

    Steve- he has had his posts deleted (were all there the other day), Right Harvey-san ?
    Probably because he knows the legal ramifications of slander.

    http://www.mypress.jp/v2_writers/hirosan/idx/?mycategory_id=31023

    Look at his blog and you’ll see a whole salad of anti-PB articles. No-one understands this irrational hatred but no doubt is something to do with having a “small baguette” as the French say.

    Latest news from a friend of mine:
    Peace Boaters are enjoying a layover in Tampa before embarking on the next phase of the voyage. Apparently a lot of the older passengers were over the moon about being able to take a bath everyday.

  • http://www.japannewbie.com Harvey

    Actually I had nothing to do with the deletions. It seems he deleted them himself… Though I was not even aware that this blog had a function that allowed users to delete their own comments!

  • Ivan Plaap

    thanks Harvey..

    yes, that is weird, how did he do it ?

  • Joe

    Hiro the Hacker! Maybe he can even go in and change the content of people’s posts?

    If so, then all Hail Hiro! Hail! Hail!

  • Ivan Plaap

    joe = hiro ? same IP address ?

  • Joe

    No.

  • Nakamura

    Hiro can even change the space-time continuum to save the incident-prone ship in Miami. Oh, Hiro, save Peace Boat from evils (especially from evil bloggers)!!!!

    Well, I read some of Hiro’s articles in the links. It is very critical but not necessarily irrational.
    http://www.mypress.jp/v2_writers/hirosan/story/?story_id=1246533

    Anyway, the ship is still in Miami, right? If the US Coast Guard keeps saying no, usually the ship operator should prepare a replacement. Will this happen?

  • Ivan Plaap

    So then Joe why don’t you elaborate on your anti-Peace Boat stance then ?

  • Ivan Plaap

    And they’re off !
    http://ameblo.jp/wanderer820/archive1-200807.html

    19:30、PB62回クルーズの責任者の「出港です」の一声に、わ～！という喜びのどよめきが沸き起こる。
    飛び上がる若者達、相好を崩す中高年の人々、抱き合って喜ぶ外国人GETの教師達。
    皆の待ち望んだ、待ちくたびれた喜びの一瞬だった。
    やれやれ！　摂り合えず、よかった

  • Joe

    My “anti-Peace Boat stance”? I have a friend who’s wife was riding on it, only to find out that it is about as safe as one of those “entertainment” facilities in Kabukicho. She ended up getting off of it early due to my friend’s concern, and she’s probably still giving him grief about that.

    Sorry, that’s all I got.

  • zahir

    hi ı want to know.. where is peace boat now??ım a turkish man ı love a japanase girl in peace boat

  • zahir

    where is peace boat? ı want to know.if u are know sen me e mail my msn adress dmx4747@hotmail.com

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