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A cruise ship operated by the Church of Scientology – quarantined in the Caribbean island of St. Lucia because of a case of measles on board – is now gone to the island from Curacao after several days stuck at the port.
The ship left St. Lucia Thursday night after local health authorities sent her 100 doses of vaccine, Reuters reported. The authorities refused to allow the disembarkation of nearly 300 staff and passengers. The ship – named Free wind-Is stuck in a port near the capital Castries for several days.
According to Reuters Eikon shipping data, the ship arrived in St. Lucia on Thursday. NBC News quoted a Coast Guard Sergeant from St. Lucia, who confirmed that the vessel was 440 feet Free wind owned and operated by the Church of Scientology. The church did not immediately respond to NewsweekRequest for comments.
Online shipping followers show that the Panamanian – flagged vessel has now left St. Lucia and is heading to her home port in Curacao. the Free wind'Progress can be tracked in real time by the MarineTraffic and My Ship Tracking websites.
Free wind should arrive in Curacao – an autonomous oil refining tourist center belonging to the Netherlands – around 6 am ET on Saturday. The island authorities did not immediately respond to NewsweekAsk to comment if Free windPassengers and crew would be allowed to disembark.
Officials from St. Lucian told NBC News that they did not have the power to prevent the ship from leaving. Merlene Frederick-James, chief medical officer of Saint Lucia, issued a statement stating that the confirmed case of measles was stable and under surveillance by the ship's medical team. She noted that the incubation period of measles was 10 to 12 days before the onset of symptoms. NBC News reported that the infected person was a female member of the crew.
The Church of Scientology website describes the Free wind as a "floating religious retreat exercising the most advanced level of spiritual counseling in the religion of Scientology".
But according to Ramana Dienes-Browning, a former senior executive of the Free windHis stay on board was like an "animal in a cage". In an editorial for ABC News, Dienes-Browning said she was forced to follow a "re-indoctrination" program after being caught trying to escape the ship. As part of the punishment, he was forced to do hard work in the ship's engine room and eventually became suicidal.
"I always had to wear a pocket knife because the idea that I could commit suicide at any time was the only way to feel a sense of empowerment," wrote Dienes. -Browning. "The only thing that stopped me was the picture of my mother's face when she would have heard the news of my death." She eventually left the church about five years later.
On Thursday, actress and former Scientologist Leah Rimmini said Newsweek the outbreak in St. Lucia could have been "a blessing in disguise" if one of the ship's passengers had managed to "leave this ship of horror". There is no indication that anyone left the ship.
KIRK ELLIOTT / AFP / Getty Images
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