I thought I would pass this letter from Kumi Naidoo, the Greenpeace International Executive Director, about the old Rainbow Warrior II as the Rainbow Warrior III is nearly ready to take on the task of protecting our environment......
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
After so many years of carrying our message and campaigning around the world, our flagship the Rainbow Warrior II will end her great years of service to our cause and enter a new phase of her eventful life.
Tomorrow August 16 at 4pm Singapore time, the Rainbow Warrior will be handed over to the organisation Friendship, a Bangladesh based NGO which specialises in medical care and emergency relief. The Rainbow Warrior will be renamed "Rongdhonu", Bengali for Rainbow. The ship will be refitted for use as a hospital ship and she will serve the coastal belt of Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal, delivering primary and secondary medical assistance to some of the most vulnerable communities of the world. The Rongdhonu will also serve as an emergency medical ship around the region, enabling Friendship to bring medical aid to those areas which are already experiencing the effects of climate change.
When we look back at the Cree Indian prophecy from which the Rainbow Warrior took her name, it is fitting that her next task will also be one of healing: “There will come a time when the Earth grows sick and when it does a tribe will gather from all cultures of the world who believe in deeds and not words. They will work to heal it…they will be known as “Warriors of the Rainbow”.
The Rongdhonu will carry on this proud tradition as she brings healthcare and emergency relief to communities which have no access to dependable health care.
Even though the ship will have a new name and a new mission, we will hold true to our principles when it comes to what happens to the ship when its useful life is over. That is why we have taken great care in our contract with Friendship that when the time comes for the Rongdhonu to be scrapped, that this will be done to the highest environmental standards and that we will provide financial assistance to make sure this happens. We also have the right of approval of any potential future owners to ensure that the commitment to these standards will be kept and that the ship would end her life in the manner she has advocated for us for so many years.
It is time for us to say farewell to the Rainbow Warrior and to wish the Rongdhonu well on the next steps of her mission. I hope that as many of as possible from around the Greenpeace world will join the ceremony through a live webcast to witness this historic moment: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/ships/
Thank you to everyone who left messages on the website about the Rainbow Warrior II - your memories and best wishes have been printed on banners to be flown on the ship during the handover ceremony. Following the handover, the banners will be removed and then stored on the Rainbow Warrior III and will travel with her.
And thank you Rainbow Warrior and your crew for the hard work and the inspiration that you brought to so many people. Your spirit will live on in the Rainbow Warrior III.
Best wishes,
Kumi
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Kumi Naidoo
Executive Director
So tomorrow evening, wherever you are, please raise a glass, either on your own or with friends, to the Rainbow Warrior II: what she has achieved and what she is going to carry on achieving.
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