Saturday, June 25, 2011

Will the "Audacity of Dopes" be grounded by an administrative complaint?

Rumors abound that the US Boat to Gaza, the "Audacity of Dopes, er, Hope" is temporarily grounded by an administrative complaint claiming that the vessel is not seaworthy. The harbor master where the boat is docked has declared that until the compliant is resolved the boat is not permitted to leave. Currently, lawyers representing the US boat are looking into the origins of the complaint.

Medea Benjamin in her blog described the The Audacity of Hope as a "rusty, old thing" and claimed it has been transformed into a lovely vessel fit for 50 passengers. Were there structural issues? Was a coat of paint merely slapped on? These are truly issues that should be resolved before the boat sets sail.

And in other flotilla news, the French vessels are on the move.

Today the first of the Freedom Flotilla 2 fleet has set sail to the rendezvous point in the Mediterranean where it will meet up with the other blockade runners.
Mazen Kahil of the "European Campaign to End the Siege" announced “The first ship of the Freedom Flotilla 2 which bears the name of “Dignity “, was launched from the port of Corsica, in France. The” Dignity” is on her way to the starting point for the rest of the fleet.” The French ship will join the other boat named “Michael Lewis”, where it is now moored in a port in Greece.

There is a press conference planned for Monday, and the boats are expected to be on their way shortly after.

1 comment:

BBJ said...

The Irish ship is, of course, the "Saoirse" (meaning "Freedom").

These folks need to get better at naming boats.