Ship details: The Fort Reliance was built in 1986 by Ferguson Alisa Ltd, Port Glasgow. The 220 foot long and 43 foot wide supply ship was ice strengthened for Antarctic surveying work and carried fire fighting equipment. In 1989 the ship was renamed Cariboo.
For the Radio Brod venture the ship was charted from Compagnie Nationale de Navigation (CNN) at a cost of £7,000 a day. The ship was fitted out as a radio ship in quay 114 at the Bassin d’Arenca Marseille. A twenty-eight metre (91 foot) aerial mast was installed. The vessel was renamed Droit de Parole [Freedom of Speech], after the French organisation running the station which was funded by the European Union and UNESCO, among others (especially Mme Danielle Mitterrand and Mr Tadeusz Mazowiecki).
The floating radio station was docked again on 28th June 1993 by the International Telecommunications Union after Serbia complained that international law prohibits broadcasting from international waters. Intense international pressure persuaded the ITU to reverse its decision, and the boat was now been reregistered under the flag of the Caribbean island of St. Vincent of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the only state willing to register the offshore station. The ship resumed 24-hour broadcasts on 29th July 1993. The ship was staffed by 10 well-known journalists from the former Yugoslavia.
Having closed down, the ship was then taken back to Marseille where all the broadcasting equipment was removed and returned to the original owners. In 1994, the Droit de Parole was bought in 1994 by Veesea and became the Veesea Pearl, under this name she became a Safety Standby Vessel in the North Sea Oil Industry. She was sold in 2000 to Seahorse in Ireland and became the Pearl. Since 2016, the vessel was named KARADENIZ POWERSHIP REMZI BEY and sailed under the Liberian flag. It has been out of service since 2020. She had a sister Fort Reliance (no record of her to be found), both were built by Fergusons of Port Glasgow, Scotland.
Type: Standby Vessel.
Owner: Seahorse Mainport Ireland.
Built: 1986 Ferguson Ailsa Ltd of Port Glasgow.
Converted: 1989.
LOA…65.36m….Beam…13.09m…..Draft…4.50m…Grt…1296.
Main Engines: 2 x 8cly Mirrless
Bhp: 5750
Twin Controllable Pitch Propellers.
Thrusters…Bow…Single through Thrust Propeller.
Offshore radio station: Radio Brod from 7th April 1993 till 28th February 1994
Location: International waters in the Adriatic Sea off the ex-Yugoslawian coast
