Deaths mar Love Boat’s final trip

The famous old cruise liner Sea Venture — a regular visitor to Bermuda in the 1970s — has been hit by tragedy on her final voyage to the wrecking yard.

Two men died and several others were hospitalized when they were exposed to toxic gases on board the vessel, which went on to achieve worldwide fame as the Love Boat.

The ship had just completed her last trip from Italy to Turkey where she was due to be dismantled.

She was damaged before entering the port of Aligia and crews had started to drain water from the vessel when the workers were poisoned by noxious gases.

According to Turkish media reports the two workers ‘succumbed to smoke inhalation’ over the weekend.

The Hurriyet Daily News stated: “Ten workers entered the engine room and were poisoned by smoke released from a plumbing fixture’s exhaust pipe which they were using to drain the water.”

While the Gogan News Agency added: “The cruise ship came to Turkey from Genoa after a difficult trip due to weather conditions. “The ship was damaged and water filled its engine room because of a violent storm.”

The Sea Venture was a regular island visitor in the 1970s and a symbol of a golden era in Bermuda’s modern maritime history.

German-built

The liner was built in West Germany in 1971 for Flagship Cruises specifically to carry tourists from New York to Bermuda and back.

The ship was owned by Piers Lorentzen who lived in Tucker’s Town and he employed several Bermudians. 

Between 1971 and 1975 she spent the spring and summer months ferrying Americans to the island on a weekly basis. 

During that time the liner’s arrival into the Number 1 Shed at Hamilton prompted excited crowds to gather harbourside and watch the spectacle.

She would also take sick islanders to the US for treatment as well as groups of disabled children for a holiday, free of charge.

The ship even once came to the rescue of the QE2 off Bermuda when the ship experienced major engine trouble.

In 1975, the vessel was bought by Princess Cruises and for the next 27 years she sailed across the world under the new name of the Pacific Princess. 

It was during this time that she shot to global fame as the setting for the American sit-com, The Love Boat, where lonely passengers found love on the seas.

For the last four years the ship, which had been bought by Quail Cruises, had been languishing in the Italian port of Genoa.

Local media reports state that the Aligia attorney general’s office has launched an investigation into the death of the two scrap yard
workers.