The general public is probably unaware that Scientology owns a cruise ship called the Freewinds, but those of us who follow the insidious cult closely, are all too familiar with the “Deathwinds.” Let us explain.
The Freewinds, a supposedly refurbished cruise ship, was once a dilapidated rust bucket Scientology bought to house their most special patrons for high level teachings. According to, Scientology, in order for someone to do the level of OT VIII, it “required a completely safe, aesthetic and distraction-free environment”. Founder L. Ron Hubbard researched and ministered many of the first OT levels in the 1960’s aboard ship, so Scientology thought if they purchased a cruise ship, that it would have a lot of meaning for Scientologists. According to Scientology it is the ONLY place on earth you can do this level. Uhhh ok.
OT VIII is the eighth level on Scientology’s ”Bridge To Total Freedom“, which we here at Glosslip affectionately call, the “Bridge To Financial Ruin”. You can also take other lower level courses and auditing on the Freewinds, and of course it is also used as a recreational vessel for OT Summits and other celebrations. Many celebrities have sailed on the Freewinds, including Tom Cruise SEVERAL times, (even celebrated his birthday there, as seen in this famous, er infamous, video) John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Kirstie Allie, as well as, actor Jason Beghe who has left Scientology in recent years, and is now speaking out against them and the financial fraud they continue to perpetrate. Jason was also quoted as saying that the Freewinds a real “flea bag” and that it “shook like crazy.”
So what about the whole safe, aesthetic and distraction-free environment part? The Freewinds is far from safe, a fact we reported on back in April of 2008. They dock in Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao, and St. Kitts. It has been dubbed the Death Ship and the Failwinds due to the fact that is is laden with dangerous blue asbestos which was reported to Scientology’s upper management by Lawrence Woodcraft back in 1987 who oversaw the original renovation of the ship. You can read his 2001 declaration here, or listen to our radio interview with Lawrence here.
The Captain of the Freewinds also admitted that during previous maintenance performed by his personnel, asbestos was released into the ventilation system but went unreported. So if Jason Beghe said “the ship shook like crazy” you can already figure out that asbestos fibers were more than likely airborne and inhaled by all on board. Scientology never said a word and decided to do absolutely nothing and denied that there was ever an asbestos problem.
In May 2008, a spokesperson from COS claimed ”there is not now and never has been a situation of asbestos exposure on the Freewinds.” So it continued to sell courses and levels to its cult members regardless of the potential harm, even though the management was warned by Mr. Woodcraft back in 1987, the Freewinds sailed on, and it wasn’t until April of 2008 when maintenance was done by the Curacao Dry dock Company in Curocao that they discovered the blue asbestos which confirmed Mr. Woodcraft’s warnings. According to InsuranceNewsNet:
“Decontamination, if it is even possible, is likely to cost tens of millions of dollars and would result in the ship being in dry dock for many months.”
Of course Scientology already KNEW about the asbestos and again, said or did nothing, but rather, chose to put even more people’s lives in danger by denying the existence of asbestos, while secretly hiring Nordica Engineering, a company out of Miami, to do a refit of the ship. Nordica hired 240 Polish workers to remove the material from the ship, and those workers actually lived on the ship for a month and a half!
When the Polish workers told Nordica there was asbestos present on the ship, Nordica ordered them to quit and return to Poland. Witold Mali?ski stated that Nordica was asking for compensation for it’s workers, but we haven’t heard anything about this case since. One can only wonder if someone was paid off to keep the outcome hush hush, or perhaps something is still brewing and still to come out of this.The ship has since been refitted, but some believe that the asbestos was SO extensive within the walls, electrical work,ventilation system and other areas that in order to completely rid the ship of all the asbestos, it would have to be stripped down to it’s steel hull. Something Scientology can’t afford and will not do because they would lose too much money.
Here’s some information on the dangers of blue asbestos, the most deadly form of the asbestos, fromMesothelium.com:
If tiny asbestos particles float in the air, they may be inhaled or swallowed, and can cause serious health problems. In addition to mesothelioma, exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer, asbestosis (a noncancerous, chronic lung ailment), and other cancers, such as those of the larynx and kidney.
Mesothelioma (cancer of the mesothelium) is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also metastasize (spread) from their original site to other parts of the body. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the pleura or peritoneum. Malignant mesothelioma is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells are found in the pleura (the thin layer of tissue that lines the chest cavity and covers the lungs) or the peritoneum (the thin layer of tissue that lines the abdomen and covers most of the organs in the abdomen).
Exposure to asbestos may increase the risk of several serious diseases:
- Asbestosis—a chronic lung ailment that can produce shortness of breath, coughing, and permanent lung damage;
- Lung cancer;
- Mesothelioma—a relatively rare cancer of the thin membranes that line the chest and abdomen
If you consider Scientology’s willingness to expose their own paying members to deadly asbestos, you can only imagine what kind selfish and harmful actions this cult poses to the delicate and fragile environment of the Caribbean ports it docks this toxic tub at. Fortunately, we have first hand accounts of the Freewinds using these tropic ports to dump their waste, without nary a concern for environmental dangers they pose.
A lovely golden haired gentlemen by the name of Sean Paton is a resident of Bonaire and has been very instrumental in trying to insure that the island of Bonaire stays a safe place to live and visit. He has a website and radio show called Forum Antilles, which broadcasts daily in Bonaire. Sean has also done a series of videos on YouTube on the dumping that is taken place in Bonaire and the Freewinds played a huge part in his videos.
Sean’s first video aired in May of 2007 (seen at top of post) and was a documentary about the environmental hazards stemming from the The Freewinds dumping waste water in to the environment. Sean shot another video, where he attempts to contact The Freewinds to ask them if they would like to tell their side of the story, but only received a voice mail recording when he called…EVERY time he called. He said he was going to keep trying until he got a hold of them. Sean said in four months time, the only response he had gotten was from a third party for Scientology claiming that “the water was all clear and good enough to drink with no environmental damage what so ever,” and supposedly, Scientology was working with the government.
My question is…if the water is clean enough to drink as Scientology claims, then why do they have to work with the Bonaire Government at all?
Continuing on with the video…
(Read the article)