Motor Vessel Emiliano Rosales-Birou

This is the MV Emiliano Rosales-Birou. She measures 777 feet long, and is named after Chuggaaconroy, who functions as Player 1 of The Runaway Guys. Her design is largely modeled as a downsized version of the SS France, launched in 1960. Originally constructed as the flagship of the French Line, the increasing popularity of air travel resulted in her having a relatively short career as an ocean liner, though she would later enjoy a successful second career as the cruise ship SS Norway.

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As with the majority of the ships that now comprise the Runaway Line's fleet, the MV Emiliano Rosales-Birou was originally built for her namesake, operating as a single-ship company rather than alongside any fleetmates. Launched on July 26th, 2006, the ship was fitted out over the following 19 months before being completed and turned over to her namesake on March 18th, 2008, sailing her maiden voyage from San Francisco to Yokohama via Honolulu and Manila on March 26th. She sailed for a few years before the ship’s owner and those of two other vessels, the GTS Timothy Bishop and the TEV Jonathan Wheeler, joined forces to form the Runaway Line on December 2nd, 2010, though it would take another two months before the company officially began operations.

Even before the company’s formation, the ER-B was known for her habit of finding herself in situations risky to many other ships’ navigation, operation, or handling, and yet managing to come away unscathed through means that her crew could only describe as "luck." Much like J. Bruce Ismay, those who knew the ship’s namesake well regarded him as a kind, trustworthy, and generous man of good character, a reputation that was reflected in the ship’s operation, often undergoing charity cruises and notably escorting one of her fleetmates, the TEV Stephallory, to safe waters after the latter ship’s radar and GPS failed during Hurricane Florence. In 2021, the ship inaugurated the company’s service from Savannah to Glasgow via New York, a more northerly passage than the company's typical transatlantic services to Southampton or Liverpool.

However, it was during this period that the Emiliano Rosales-Birou became the victim of three near-simultaneous smear campaigns the likes of which had not been seen in the maritime industry since that which William Randolph Hearst leveled against Bruce Ismay. On January 16th, 2024, the ER-B was approaching New York when she encountered an armed merchant cruiser allegedly performing target practice in the area. The crew of the converted ocean liner would subsequently claim that the ER-B had crossed between her and their free-floating targets despite being warned of the ongoing exercises, an account which was quickly relayed to the Runaway Line’s headquarters by two of the ER-B's fleetmates, the TEV Jonathan Wheeler and the TEV Stephen Georg, before the ship herself could provide any testimonies.

After the ER-B anchored off New York and disembarked her passengers, the crew of one of her fleetmates, the MS Shauntelle Kikue, would come forward alleging to have uncovered evidence that a fire that had destroyed the MS Emiliauntelle in 2021 was set by the crew of the ER-B, and the captains of two other vessels would claim that the ER-B had been used as a front for the transport of illicit materials on one voyage in 2009. As public sentiment turned against the ER-B following these claims, it was decided that she would be repaired in Glasgow as a formal investigation sought to determine who was at fault for the incidents. She was escorted across the Atlantic by two of her fleetmates, the GTS Timothy Bishop and the MV Joshua Jepson, as well as the MS Amanda VanHiel, whose crews would, to varying degrees, speak on behalf of the ER-B's crew in the subsequent inquiries.

Over the next three months, and despite a general lack of support from her owners, these investigations would prove that the ER-B had been allowed to sail through the area of target practice under the impression that the exercises would not proceed, that her crew were not responsible for the fire that destroyed the Emiliauntelle, and that as soon as the illegal nature of cargoes were discovered in 2009, the ER-B had returned to offload them at the nearest port.

None of the crews of the prosecuting ships faced any legal consequences for their actions. The Runaway Line sold off the Shauntelle Kikue that May, but her crew similarly kept their positions in the company, while numerous other crew members across their fleet who have spoken out against the botched support of the ER-B found themselves out of their jobs. The smear campaigns against the MV Emiliano Rosales-Birou demonstrated how the manipulation of truth and the fear of reputational damage can cut longstanding ties without consideration of the facts, but it is also a story of dedication, admiration, and loyalty, each of which being a force that, with enough time, conquered fear.