Freeport, Bahamas - SS Emerald Seas (1978)

USS General W. P. Richardson (AP-118) was a troopship that served with the United States Navy in World War II. She was later transferred to the United States Army and served briefly during the Korean War as USAT General W. P. Richardson before entering commercial service. AP-118 was laid down under United States Maritime Commission contract 2 February 1944 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Kearny, New Jersey; named General R. M. Blatchford (AP-118) on 15 April 1944; renamed General W. P. Richardson (AP 118) on 1 July 1944; launched 6 August 1944; acquired by the Navy 31 October 1944, and commissioned at Bayonne, New Jersey, 2 November 1944, Captain Joseph S. Rosenthal, USCG, in command. In 1957 she was bought by the Hawaiian Steamship Company and renamed Leilani on 5 February 1957. Laid up once again in San Francisco, she was seized by the Federal Government on 12 May 1959 and put up for auction the following month. On 25 July 1960, she was bought by American President Lines, refitted at Seattle and renamed President Roosevelt. In 1970 she was sold to Chandris Lines and named Atlantis. In October 1972 she was sold again, to the Ares Shipping Corporation and named Emerald Seas. After spending some time with Eastern Steamship, she was sold to Festival Cruises in 1992 and renamed Sapphire Seas. In October 1994 she was laid up in Piraeus, Greece, after which she was renamed Ocean Explorer I in 1998 for use at Lisbon as a Hotel Ship for Expo 98. She was later laid up at Eleusis, Greece. In November 1999 she entered service with the World Cruise Company, but was taken out of service again shortly thereafter, in May 2000, and laid up once more at Eleusis. She was scrapped in India in 2005, having had a long career of about 60 years. Freeport is a city, district and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama of the northwest Bahamas. In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests in Grand Bahama, was granted 50,000 acres (20,234 ha) of pineyard with substantial areas of swamp and scrubland by the Bahamian government with a mandate to economically develop the area. Freeport has grown to become the second most populous city in the Bahamas. The main airport serving the city is the Grand Bahama International Airport, which receives domestic flights from various islands of the Bahamas as well as several international flights from the United States and Canada. Freeport is also served by domestic Bahamian ferry services to other islands. The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) operates the free trade zone, under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement signed in August 1955 whereby the Bahamian government agreed that businesses in the Freeport area would pay no taxes before 1980, later extended to 2054. The area of the land grants within which the Hawksbill Creek Agreement applies has been increased to 138,000 acres (55,847 ha).