NEWS ARTICLE

After making numerous attempts to get on this ship we finally were successful Nov 22nd-23rd. The first time that we went to investigate the ship it was more of just a look at it. We walked up and down thought about a way we could get in. We realized that it wasn't as easy as we thought doors were sealed no ropes to climb but thick cables and all we could do is speculate a way in for a second adventure. The second time we voyaged to the ship we were much more prepared we brought alligator clips, some thin rope and i climbed up one of the cables to the lower deck because of the thickness of the cable and the change incline i was only able to get 5 feet away so close yet so far. Finally a third trip back i made a homemade grappling hook which i would try and use to climb the central deck however due to its weight i had to throw it onto the lower deck which that part is exposed to freezing water taking me about an hour Pete and i struggled to get it up there throwing the weight of the rope and the weight of a pretty heavy hook and some attachments finally with a lucky strike i made it on the deck one yank and it was secured by this time the ice storm had froze my hands turning them purple so we were going to save the climb for a 4th time.

When we went for the 4th time we were shocked to find the rope had snapped and the hatch which we were going to enter was 6-8 feet higher and the ship pulled fairly far away from the pier we now for sure almost lost hope. But then putting our wits together we did discover another way in proving difficult and very slow we worked our way up the side of the ship and entered into a world of its own. The ship i believe is cursed due to its series of accidents. Once a military cargo ship all the way to a ferry/passenger ship to a museum the ship served many different purposes. Do the spirits haunt this ship i say yes i feel the whole ship is alive maybe not for the living but for the departed. As there are 2 major restaurants on board, 3 minor restaurants, a gift shop, grand ball room, a recreation room and so much more to explore as there is many decks outside as well some small some lower some higher. The smoke stack has a ladder to climb as well as the captains suite where you can climb up and over look everything. The rudder room almost looks like brand new and i would say some of the supplies still remain on board old blue prints, the lobby has escalators and couches. The piano is still very playable and some of the kitchens still have silverware, plates saying Aquarama on them. Below i will post a historical document on the Aquarama you can clearly see that not only is this ship large but it has a past and with a past usually comes with a good haunt or two. Nobody has set foot onto this ship in years not until NOW and the persistence of our adventure truly paid off as it was one of our best adventures. Read farther down below more history on this historical ship.

Copyright by:

AngelOfThyNight-Rick

More photos waiting on development:)

History Of The Aquarama

"The rusted 50-year Aquarama makes its way down the
Detroit River through Amherstburg, en route to
Buffalo, N.Y. The ship, renowned for its history of
mishaps, was taken out of dock Tuesday morning.

'Crusherama' Buffalo-bound
Some said it was a piece of history.
Some said it was an eyesore.
Tuesday, they said goodbye.

By Brian Cross, Star Staff Reporter
A few tugs from a few tugs, and the colossal Aquarama
slipped from the muck of its mooring Tuesday, bound
for Buffalo and hopefully a future more promising than
its notorious past.

For six years this 160-metre, seven-story former
Second World War troop ship has been mired in a rented
west-end slip barely large enough to hold it.

Passersby gawked at the derelict, rusting monster,
wondering how glorious its past had been, how majestic
it may once have looked, and why the heck it was here.


"There she goes," observed part-owner James Everatt,
as two tugboats gently guided the Aquarama--currently
going by its original name, the Marine Star--down the
Detroit River at the start of a 30-hour journey.

It's going to another slip in Buffalo, N.Y. and then
to a shipyard where it will undergo a
$30-million-to-$50-million refit to make it a huge
casino ship.

Everatt said that with 250,000 square feet of floor
space, the ship--pure white, looking like a sleek, new
cruise ship--will be the largest casino ship in North
America.

It will employ 1,400 people and generate a gross
income of between $150 million and $330 million
annually, said Everatt, who refused to disclose its
ultimate destination.

That would be something new for this ocean-going
orphan. It was a Liberty ship, built in 1945 in
Chester, Pa., as a U.S. troop carrier, but it made
just one trip across the Atlantic before the war
ended.

It was designed for 35-to-40 year service, but during
its five decades it has actually been in service for
around five years. A Detroit industrialist eventually
bought it and spent $8 million converting the USS
Marine Star into a cruise-ferry ship that took
passengers between Detroit and Cleveland in the late
1950s and early 1960s.

The new Aquarama had nine decks containing four
restaurants, four bars, movie theatres, recreation
areas and room for 160 cars and 2,600 passengers. But
it was remembered as much for its mishaps as for its
Great Lakes grandeur.

Rammed sea walls, docks
Newspaper stories nicknamed it the Crusherama and
described it as the most ill-tempered ship on the
lakes after it rammed the sea wall of what is now
Windsor's Dieppe Gardens. It also crashed into the
Detroit News dock on the Detroit side and bumped into
a U.S. Navy cruiser near Cleveland. And in 1957, its
gigantic wake was blamed for nearly drowning a
two-year-old girl at an Amherstburg beach and swamping
two small fishing boats.

"One time, I remember when I was a kid, it came down
the Amherstburg side (of the river), it bounced boats
around, tore docks out," remembered Wes Ball, an
Amherstburg marine enthusiast who drove to Windsor to
watch the departure of the fabled ship Tuesday
morning.

Former Windsor harbor master Rod Beaton was delighted
to hear the Aquarama will no longer grace Windsor's
riverfront. "It looked like hell, and right now it's
the ugliest pile of junk," Beaton said.

The problem was the ship was designed to carry cargo
on the open seas. When it's not loaded down, it sits
high in the water and become prey to winds and the
currents in the Detroit River. With just one rear prop
(the prop shaft is pure steel, 60 feet long and two
feet in diameter), it couldn't maneuver in close,
Great Lakes quarters. The thin, tall ship was designed
for the open seas, but Beaton quipped: It should
already have been recycled through three Toyotas now."


Sold to a scrap dealer, all the old steel and aluminum
would be worth over $1 million, but Everatt is
confident there's lots of life left in the Aquarama.

Everatt is a St. Thomas businessman who got together
with 22 other investors from his area to purchase the
Aquarama--mothballed since 1963--for a rumored $3
million in 1987. The original plan was to convert it
into a casino for Detroit's riverfront, but citizen
referendums in the late 1980s killed their dreams.
They next proposed sprucing it up to make it the
centerpiece of a waterfront revitalization in Port
Stanley, but that scheme also imploded due to
government red tape, according to Everatt.

"It was not a great experience, it was very
frustrating," he said. "I thought that, as a Canadian.
it would be fantastic if it remained in Canada, but
the opportunities are not here for us."

Storage spot found in Windsor
The ship bounced around for a few years, before a
storage spot was found in Windsor. For six years,
Everatt and his group forked out over $400,000 to rent
the slip and pay for securities and utilities. The
ship was recently purchased by a Delaware-based cruise
company, which Everatt owns shares in. When it's
refitted, it will get bow and stern thrusters that
will enable it to better maneuver.

Converting it to a casino and moving it to its new
home will take two years, Everatt estimated. "We need
to get on with what we're doing."

Preparations to move the ship began four days ago.
There was insurance to secure, and inspections to make
sure it was seaworthy. A backhoe arrived to dig out
the anchor that had been buried 15 feet into the
ground by the ship's bow.

Spectators from the neighborhood stopped and peered
through the fencing as the Aquarama was tugged out
into the river. Although most of the ship's insides
were gutted by Everatt's group, there were still many
remnants from its heyday as a cruise-ferry ship.

Mark Rose, who was contracted to guard the Aquarama
during the last three years, said he used to spend
hours exploring the bowels of the old ship. Each time,
he would make a new discovery--the four-story-high
engine room, portholes, rooms and hallways. There were
30-year-old dishes emblazoned with the latter A,
napkins, placemats, cups, kitchen utensils, pop and
cigarette machines, and a working baby grand piano.

While in Windsor, the pale-green and rust ship became
a target for thieves and vandals. Most of the glass
windows were smashed out. Some intruders only wanted
to get in and scrawl their names on the bedraggled
ship.

Considering its disappointing history, having only
actually sailed for one-tenth of its life, Rose is
hopeful that Everatt's lofty plans for the Aquarama
come true. As his former charge moved slowly away
Tuesday, the now-unemployed security guard said: "I
really hope it sails again."