A special team from the United States, supervised by an independent bureau from the Netherlands, has arrived on the Caribbean island of Curacao to remove asbestos from Scientology Cruise ship Freewinds, according to Amigoe, the longest running daily paper in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The Freewinds is still reportedly sitting high and dry at a Curacao facility owned by docking company CDM.

The company managing the cleanup is Ft. Lauderdale-based "woman owned" AirQuest Inc. A staffer answering phones at the company said the entire staff was on the job and "incommunicado." Neither CDM's director, a spokesperson for the company, nor Tico Ras of Curacao's Environmental Service bureau were available. In the Amigoe article, Ras says the seriousness of the asbestos threat is "a matter of interpretation." So, for instance, if you breathed in blue asbestos on the ship, you might die. Or you could get lucky, dodge any potentially cancer-causing particles, and live out a life of religious fulfillment.

Freewinds was supposed to give a declaration about its condition last week but didn't, Amigoe reports. And CDM director Frank Esser tells the paper that the ship has failed to follow rules regarding asbestos handling, assuming past sworn statements by the ship's architect are true and there is still blue asbestos, the deadliest kind, on board.

At 4 p.m. EST, Radar called and e-mailed a Scientology spokesperson who had previously claimed the boat was completely up to snuff and on schedule for renovations—the Church was advertising a cruise departing May 7 (tomorrow). about the looming asbestos issue at about 4 p.m. EST. We did not immediately hear back. Ongoing chatter about this here (or below in the comments section).

PREVIOUSLY
• Cancer on the Lido Deck: Something's Fishy on the S.S. Scientology
• Cancer on the Lido Deck? Scientology Responds
• Cancer on the Lido Deck: Scientology Cruise Ship Rife with Asbestos?