Inside Freewinds, the luxurious Scientology cruise ship

Table Of Content

• 1981: Wallenius Lines ownership
• Track Freewinds Current Position / Location - Freewinds Cruise Ship Tracker - Church of Scientology - Cruising Earth
• Discover for yourself what Scientology is.
• Melania Trump's Fundraiser With Gay Organization: Everything We Know
• Service history
• measles quarantine
• Similar vessels

Therefore, it could be a while before everyone gets their ship together. The ship passengers and crew members could be spending well over 21 days in quarantine. The Freewinds, has over the years, been a convenient place to keep dissidents or those scientology does not want in public view. Even things that would otherwise generate interest or outrage have gone largely unnoticed (See for example when it was discovered the ship was contaminated with blue asbestos and Sea Org and other workers had been exposed). A significant portion of the ship is given over to its use as a religious retreat for Scientologists.

1981: Wallenius Lines ownership

Yes, that virus that we thought was basically eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 has made it on to a boat, specifically, according to NBC News, the "Freewinds" ship, owned by the Church of Scientology. The Freewinds is a religious retreat that marks for Scientologists the pinnacle of their journey to total spiritual freedom. Its position at sea is designed to provide an aesthetic, distraction-free environment off the crossroads of everyday life. As a center of spiritual enlightenment, it is a place where lives are transformed.

Track Freewinds Current Position / Location - Freewinds Cruise Ship Tracker - Church of Scientology - Cruising Earth

"This outbreak could be a blessing in disguise because maybe some people can get off this ship of horrors," Remini told Newsweek. "Circumstances like this give an opportunity for some agencies or authorities to gain access to this ship beyond what would normally be offered." Health officials probably checked whether each person had gotten the measles vaccine, because that's how you prevent the measles. If someone didn't get vaccine then receiving the measles vaccine within 72 hours of initial exposure to the measles virus and immunoglobulin (IG) within six days of exposure could help protect the person or reduce symptoms. But again, it's not as good as getting the vaccine beforehand, as most people have done for years. Freewinds is the fifth ship to be owned by the Church of Scientology.

Discover for yourself what Scientology is.

Those aboard the ship who had been vaccinated or had the measles before were free to leave the 440-foot vessel, health officials said May 4. A doctor aboard the ship had ordered about 100 doses of the measles vaccine before leaving St. Lucia. While living on the Freewinds – which never docks in US ports or territorial waters – he had his passport confiscated and worked 16 to 24 hours a day in unsafe working conditions, he alleges. That included repainting pipes, cleaning the ship decks and cleaning fuel tanks without safety equipment. He claims after working with blue asbestos and concrete dust he later coughed up blood.

While people who left the Church of Scientology have stated they were held against their will, Newsweek could not independently confirm anyone on Freewinds is there against their own volition. More than 700 people in the United States have been sickened by the disease this year — the highest number of reported cases in a year since 1994. Officials say the sudden spike is due to misinformation about vaccines.

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Cruise from hell: I was trapped on Scientology ship while Tom partied - The Independent

Cruise from hell: I was trapped on Scientology ship while Tom partied.

Posted: Sat, 03 Dec 2011 08:00:00 GMT [source]

MCL Services is a corporation in the Netherlands Antilles that provides shore support and liaison services for Majestic Cruise Lines and FSSO from the home port of the Freewinds, Curaçao. Although not confirmed, one ex-Scientologist woman claims to have been kept on the ship against her will for 12 years. She says that the Church of Scientology’s leader, David Miscavige, sent her to the ship when she was 18 to prevent her mother from taking her away from the religion. Her mother publicly denounced Scientology after her ex husband committed suicide, who had blamed the church for fleecing him of his fortune (Cannane, “Woman ‘Imprisoned'”). There has been some controversy that has arisen due to events that allegedly took place on the Freewinds. The Freewinds was under seal at Curacao after asbestos fibers were found.

Freewinds began service as a Church of Scientology religious retreat in 1988. The remaining 318 crew members have been given the all clear to leave the ship, which docked at the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao. The Freewinds being in the news for the first time is the opportunity for the truth to be revealed.

In 2004 a Mexican Sea Org member who was an engineer on the ship named Jorge Arroyo went insane. When his body was discovered, the ship left Aruba and sailed to Curaçao, because the Freewinds had better public relations there. Jorge’s brother, who was also an engineer on the ship, was lied to and told he had a heart attack.

Similar vessels

The Freewinds provides a safe, aesthetic, distraction-free environment appropriate for ministration of this profoundly spiritual level of auditing. Thus, while the Flag Service Organization in Clearwater ministers the highest levels of training and auditing from the bottom of the Bridge to New OT VII, the most advanced OT level (New OT VIII) is exclusively entrusted to the FSSO. Additionally three decorative ribands were painted on the side of the hull towards the rear. Freewinds often hosts local functions in the ports it frequents, such as jazz concerts and movie performances in Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. These events are usually free but often support island charities through entrance fees or suggested donations.[18] Local artists are often showcased.

The church said in a statement dated May 5 that the woman, who had been "isolated, per ship protocol, in a single-patient medical room with a special controlled-air ventilation system," was "symptom-free." The ship, named the Freewinds, was originally quarantined in St. Lucia late last month before it set sail for its home port of Curacao with about 300 people on board. While not all ex-members have dished positive reviews of the MV Freewinds (according to one unhappy passenger, a two-week holiday turned into a 12-year sentence), there's no denying the ship was built with luxury in mind. Former crew members of the Freewinds have provided extensive testimony concerning abuses aboard, including deaths being covered up and people held against their will.

Some former adherents have accused it of being a dangerous money-focused cult that regularly tries to destroy the lives of critics. Scientology has been approached for comment about the allegations in the lawsuit but are yet to respond. “Scientology is just about how to deal with the situations in life and since I have availed myself of this knowledge I'm able to share that,” says Phil. “There's no greater feeling in the universe than to help another person."

The ship's leisure facilities include a restaurant, lounge, cabaret, swimming pool, movie theater and beauty salon. "When the ship is docked, you have to go via the gangway to get off the ship and there's a big security guard there, which will stop you from getting off if you're not allowed to get off," she said. The church of Scientology's vessel "Freewinds" is a beautiful oceanliner, but one woman says it's more like a slave ship. Don Jason, who was once second in command of the Flag Service Organization, planned to leave the church in 1996, but agreed to a counseling program and manual labor on the Freewinds, according to the Tampa Bay Times. After multiple requests to leave were denied, Jason said he devised a plan and escaped by using a rolling pin to zip line down the ship's cable and onto the dock. Despite multiple attempts by the Church to block his leaving, he was able to make it safely to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Along with studying Scientology materials, she wrote in an op-ed for ABC News that she had to do hard labor in the ship's engine room. "If nobody asked they'd never get the opportunity to say, 'yes,'" Rinder told Newsweek. "Would they [leave]? I don't know. They have been very, very mind controlled and taught to believe that if they're in a bad place it's being created by their own ill acts." Psychology Today, a Substack entitled "Minded by Science" and have written articles for The New York Times, Time, The Guardian, The HuffPost, STAT, the MIT Technology Review and others.