MV Freewinds is a former cruise ship operated by International Shipping Partners and owned by San Donato Properties, a company affiliated with the Church of Scientology. She was built in 1968 by Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard in Turku, Finland, for Wallenius Lines as MS Bohème for service with Commodore Cruise Line. She was the first cruise ship built in Finland. Her ownership passed to a Church of Scientology–controlled company in 1985. The ships ordered by Lion Ferry were built at Wärtsilä's Turku Shipyard, and the first of them, , was delivered to her owners on 14 May 1966. However, the passenger demand on the Bremerhaven–Harwich route proved to be insufficient for two ships, and Lion Ferry cancelled the order for a second ship, which was to be named "Prins Albert". An agreement was reached where the build contract of the half-complete ship was sold to the Sweden-based Wallenius Lines, which would have the ship completed as a cruise ship and, following completion, she would be chartered to Commodore Cruise Lines. The crew already hired for the Navarino was transferred to the Bohème.

The Flag Ship Trust (FST) entity was formed in December 1985 with the aid of a US$5 million donation from the International Association of Scientologists. In September 1986, the FST purchased Bohème, renamed her Freewinds, and refitted her to enable use for Scientology purposes. Lawrence Woodcraft, a licensed British architect in the Sea Org, was chosen by FST to be the "Chief Architect" of the ship. Upon arrival, Woodcraft discovered that he was not doing any design work but only producing working drawings of renderings and sketches by the "LRH Architects" Barry and Carol Stein (whom Woodcraft later found out were not licensed architects). The designs were full of functional defects, such as moving the dining room two decks up without the kitchen and replacing the existing dining room with a course room (causing disturbances from the noise from the kitchen). When Woodcraft pointed out such defects, he was overruled, and in the case of the restaurant, senior managers ordered an elevator to be installed, which required cutting through steel floors, threatening the ship's structural integrity. Woodcraft and the chief of the renovations, Steve Kozaki, were unsure about the composition of the walls. Kozaki slammed a hammer into a wall, releasing a powdery substance that Woodcraft immediately identified as asbestos. He later confirmed it when he found the original Finnish blueprints, which clearly labeled "asbestos" insulation all over the ship. Woodcraft confronted the Chief Engineer, Wack Alcock, who immediately denied having asbestos and claimed it was just "insulation." Woodcraft informed multiple people, who all disregarded his warnings, except Bitty Miscavige, the sister-in-law of Scientology head David Miscavige, who supervised the project. Bitty immediately became concerned and tried to resolve the issue, but decided not to after Alcock could not find anything about asbestos in L Ron Hubbard's literature and reminded Bitty of Scientology doctrine, which held that cancer was caused by "sexual misconduct," not asbestos. Further damage was caused when one of Hubbard's writings was found to criticize fiberglass, as a consequence of which Sea Org ordered the removal of all the fiberglass protecting the ship from the Caribbean sun.

Once construction started, Woodcraft witnessed how Sea Org members without experience in maritime engineering or interior design were brought without pay, carelessly ripping into the interiors, ventilation, and plumbing, releasing asbestos all over the ship. Many Sea Org members were covered head-to-toe with asbestos, with one individual, after being warned about it by Woodcraft, dismissing his concern and biting into the asbestos. The ship's construction fell vastly behind schedule and over budget, so Scientology management contracted "CCL," a professional ship refitting company based out of Southampton working primarily in Miami. Upon arrival, CCL Engineers were shocked and outraged by the ship's condition and the asbestos contamination, threatening to report them to the authorities. Scientology management allegedly paid CCL extra money, fearing a significant public relations issue. They compromised to have Sea Org members spray contaminated areas with water in a useless attempt to prevent the asbestos from becoming airborne. Eventually, relations with CCL broke down, and they left without performing any work. It was then decided to recruit non-Sea Org Scientologists with the necessary skills to complete the construction. The vessel was placed back into service in June 1988.

Freewinds is the fifth ship to be owned by the Church of Scientology. The other four were (later Apollo), Enchanter (later Diana), Avon River (later Athena), and Nekambi, all of which have apparently been scrapped. However, the nameplate of Diana has been preserved and is on display aboard Freewinds. The church also operated two World War II surplus ships from the late 1960s until the early 1970s. These were Bolivar, a subchaser, and T.S.M.Y. Excalibur. Both of these vessels were docked at San Pedro, California, and were used for training new Sea Org members.

Scientology use

Freewinds is the exclusive training center for OT VIII (Operating Thetan Level 8), the highest level of Scientology and the last of the published OT levels. Members of the Church of Scientology who have reached the highest levels must receive their training on the Freewinds.

Besides the OT VIII training, Freewinds is used for delivering lower-level classes, auditing services, and recreational activities for Scientologists. The ship hosts a "Freewinds Maiden Voyage" each June as an "OT Summit" for high-ranking Scientologists at which Scientology accomplishments and plans for the future are celebrated.

A significant portion of the ship is given over to its use as a religious retreat for Scientologists. In addition to various course rooms and a library of L. Ron Hubbard books, Freewinds has areas given over to the Religious Technology Center, Sea Org and International Association of Scientologists. As is common practice in other Scientology organizations, the ship also has an "LRH Office" symbolically set aside for L. Ron Hubbard's use (Hubbard died in January 1986, approximately nine months before the vessel was purchased).

Allegations of abuse onboard

In 2011, former Sea Org member Valeska Paris reported that she had been imprisoned onboard Freewinds to prevent her from leaving Scientology, after joining at age 14. Once she was taken to the ship, expecting to be onboard two weeks, Paris said her passport was taken from her, after which she was held against her will, forced into manual labor for 12 years, and unable to leave the ship without an escort for six years.

Her story was corroborated by a former Sea Org member who said "[Valeska] made it very clear she did not want to be there. She had been sent to the ship so as not to be in contact with one of her parents and that's not what she wanted, she was very, very distressed."

Environmental issues

In April 2008, the Freewinds was shut down after blue asbestos was discovered by government health inspectors during maintenance by the Curaçao Drydock Company. Blue asbestos is the most dangerous form of asbestos, and the ship was reported to be "extensively contaminated". 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." Karin Pouw, spokesperson for the Church of Scientology, told Radar Magazine that the air quality on the ship was regularly tested and "always meets or exceeds US standards". The Church contracted Nordica Engineering to perform renovations on the Freewinds and denied the presence of blue asbestos during talks. To remove material from the ship, Nordica brought in 240 Polish workers, who lived on the Freewinds for a month and a half. When workers told Nordica there was blue asbestos on the ship, they stopped renovations and workers returned to Poland. Witold Maliński stated that Nordica was looking to demand compensation on behalf of its workers.

The Freewinds has been noted in Bonaire for the amount of waste water it dumps into the island's inland waste pit.

2019 measles quarantine

In May 2019, the Freewinds was placed in quarantine by the island of Saint Lucia during a visit, after a confirmed case of measles on board. Dr. Merlene Fredericks-James, Saint Lucia's chief medical officer, said in a statement: "Because of the risk of potential infection, not just from the confirmed measles case but from other persons who may be on the boat at the time, we thought it prudent to make a decision not to allow anyone to disembark."

The ship left Saint Lucia on 2 May en route to its home port of Curaçao. The measles case was identified as a female crew member.

Design

thumb|View of the upper decks of the Freewinds

thumb|Logo on the side of the Freewinds, incorporating the [[Operating Thetan|OT, Dianetics, Scientology and Majestic Cruise Lines logos (centre, left, right and above, respectively).]]

thumb|Sign on the Freewinds that reads "Sea Organization Motor Vessel" and "Freewinds"

Exterior design

The exterior design of the Bohème/Freewinds is very similar to the Finnhansa-class ships built as ferries. She has a moderately raked and slightly rounded bow, rounded forward superstructure, terraced rear superstructure and two slim side-by-side funnels. She differs from her sisters with the superstructure expanding further on promenade deck (on the other ships it only extends as far as the bridge), swimming pool added to the rear of promenade deck, and the observation lounge missing from the topmost deck; this was replaced by an open sunbathing area.

As built the Bohème was painted in Wallenius Lines livery, with an all-white hull and superstructure, yellow radar mast and yellow funnels with a wide horizontal green stripe painted on them and the letters OW (for Olof Wallenius) painted on the stripe. The ship only kept this livery until her first visit to Miami, where she was repainted in the Commodore Cruise Line livery, with white funnels and radar mast. A dark blue decorative stripe was later painted on the hull. During the 1983 refit the livery of the Bohème was more radically altered, when blue stripes were painted along the windows on main and promenade decks, as well as the bridge windows. The funnels were re-painted with a spray-shaped design in blue, red and yellow.

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