The desolate ship-breaking yards of Alang, India, seem a world away from the storied past of the SS Norway, which started life as the SS France, one of the great ocean liners of its time.
The 1,035-foot-long ship—the length of three football fields—made its maiden six-day voyage to New York from France in 1962. In its heyday, it played host to actor Cary Grant and artist Salvador Dali.
Norwegian Cruise Lines purchased the vessel in 1979 and converted it to the world's first mega-cruise ship, rechristening it the Norway.
Ship lovers have posted pleas on the Internet to save the Norway from scrapping. One hope: a proposal to take the ship to Dubai and operate it as a floating hotel.
But first the Indian Supreme Court would have to lift its death sentence.
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(c) 2006, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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