Stella Polaris has sunk


NHK reports that the MS Stella Polaris has sunk in the Pacific off Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, while being towed to China for repairs.

I wrote about the beautiful ship here. It sailed as a liner for millionaire travelers until the 1960s. It was sold to a Japanese company in 1970 for use as a hotel and restaurant in Suruga Bay in Shizuoka Prefecture, near Mt Fuji.

The vessel, also known as Scandinavia, was once again sold to a Swedish company and it was scheduled to go to Stockholm after undergoing repairs in Shanghai.

The cause of the sinking is not yet known, and nobody was injured, according to NHK. The Coast Guard reports that the vessel sank early on Sunday morning and that a small amount of fuel is leaking but not enough to affect sea transport in the area.

What a sad end. The owners really had no respect for the ship at all, and for all the memories connected to her. What a total waste of a beautiful ship.

Update: The Japan Times says its new owner, the Swedish company Petro-Fast AB, planned to operate the ship as a hotel-restaurant in Stockholm, according to Izuhakone Railway. An employee of Izuhakone Railway's general affairs department is also quoted as saying, "We are surprised at the news as it has only left the port a few days ago. We've taken care of the ship for more than 30 years. We feel very sad."

Comments

Pandabonium said…
What an elegant ship with such an interesting history. How sad. It seems a common fate for old liners. Those ships are a nostalgic, even romantic, sight.

I will never forget when my father took me for a ride in his airplane in 1967 to circle the Queen Mary as she sailed into Long Beach Harbor where she became a hotel. She was escorted by hundreds of small ships and boats - quite a sight. I later stayed at the hotel for a couple of nights. Her sister ship, the Queen Elizabeth, as you probably know, caught fire and capsized in Hong Kong Harbor.

Two other historic ships went to Hawaii to be operated as inter-island cruise ships - the Constitution and the Independence, each built in 1951. The Consitution carried Grace Kelly when she sailed to Monaco to marry Prince Rainer, and was used in the famous movie "An Affair to Remember" with Cary Grant. The Consitution was to be scrapped in 1997, but sank while under tow to Japan. The Independence is laid up and will probably be sent to China to be broken up.

Anyway, thanks for sharing this story. Sorry I never got to see her in person.
4:42 pm, September 03, 2006
Martin J Frid said…
Thanks for the comment. Tere is a beautiful ship in the Yokohama harbour that you might like, built in the 1920s, called Hikawa Maru. Very stylish. The resturant is not great, but you get to sit on the deck and enjoy the ocean view. If you go to Yamashita Park you can't miss it!
11:56 am, September 04, 2006
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War

Image
A unique three-day international conference is being held at Makuhari near Tokyo, a day after the 61st anniversary of the enforcement of Japan's Constitution. It is organized by nongovernmental groups, including Japan-based Peace Boat . Organizers said the meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the significance of the constitutional article that endorses demilitarization and what people can do to promote its spirit, notes The Japan Times . While the constitution stipulates that Japan renounces war as a sovereign right and that it will not maintain land, sea and air forces, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been keen to make amendments. "The war in Iraq has shown that even the strongest, biggest army in the world can not keep peace in a single city. It proves that aggression never instates peace," Tatsuya Yoshioka, director of Peace Boat and a representative of the event's organizing committee, said during the opening remarks. "Article 9 is a treasu...
Read more

マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目 -世界の消費者運動の旅から

Image
  My new book has been published! マーティン・フリッド (著)   世界中の消費者が同じ課題を抱え、悩み、たたかっている。スウェーデンに生まれ、ヨーロッパ、そして日本の消費者運動の現場を歩いてきた著者が、人びとの日常によりそいながら軽妙なユーモアを交えて食、環境、エネルギー、社会のあり方、政治、経済を考えます。   https://nishoren.net/new-information/14177 Consumers all over the world are facing similar problems, worries, and struggles. In this book, the author, who was born in Sweden and has walked the frontlines of consumer movements in Europe ...
Read more

Salvador Dali, Hiroshima and Okinawa

Image
Spanish artist Salvador Dali was deeply terrified by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , and his exact, detailed style was very much suited to show the horror of the A-bomb, which America tried to keep a secret by classifying photos and descriptions until the end of the occupation of Japan in 1952. The Bureau of Atomic Tourism has more details if you want to know more about the legacy of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Even today, do people understand the real horror of atomic bombs? If not, then, why not ? Dali's paintings are on display in Fukushima prefecture, where you can view Melancholy Atomic and Uranium Idyll and The Three Sphinxes of Bikini at the Morohashi Museum of Modern Art . Long YouTube video from the Nihon University (Nichidai) channel with an interview featuring Morohashi Eiji, the son of the founder of the unique museum, and scenes from the Morohashi Museum (29:20): #271美術館への誘い ダリの世界 Is there a hidden message in Dali's Bikini hydrogen bomb painting...
Read more