Rainbow Warrior to end her days as hospital ship in India

At a ceremony in Singapore, the Rainbow Warrior was transferred to Friendship, a Bangladesh-based non-governmental organisation, which will refit the vessel before she sets out in her new role.

The ship – renamed Rongdhonu, Bengali for Rainbow – will serve communities with little or no access to basic health care in the coastal bay of Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal.

The Rainbow Warrior is the second ship to bear the name – her predecessor was sunk in a New Zealand harbour by French secret service agents during nuclear tests in the Pacific in 1985.

She was built by Cochrane and Sons in Selby in 1957 for Grimsby-based deep sea fishing firm Ross Group – of Ross Frozen Foods fame.

Meanwhile construction of a new Rainbow Warrior 111 is nearly complete. She will join the Greenpeace fleet in October as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations.

Speaking at yesterday’s ceremony, Mike Fincken, captain of the Rainbow Warrior II, quoted the Cree Indian prophecy from which the ship got its name. He added: “This ship has carried people from around the world and has stood as an icon of hope over pessimism and as an emblem of action over complacency, it is time to pass that task on.”

Runa Khan of Friendship said the Rongdhonu would “bring relief during natural disaster and help ease the physical suffering and pain amongst communities which have no access to dependable healthcare.”