dream cruise ship scrapped

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Unfinished and unwanted 9,000-passenger cruise ship to be scrapped

Lower hull of Global Dream II to be disposed of after shipbuilder filed for bankruptcy

What was meant to be one of the world’s largest cruise ships is being prepared for its maiden voyage – to a scrapyard.

Global Dream II , which was designed to hold more than 9,000 passengers, had almost been completed at a shipyard on Germany’s Baltic coast. However, the shipbuilder MV Werften filed for bankruptcy in January 2022 and the administrators cannot find a buyer for Global Dream II.

The German cruise industry magazine An Bord reported that the lower hull of the liner is to be disposed for scrap price.

The administrator Christoph Morgen reportedly told a press conference on Friday that the ship needed to be moved out of MV Werften’s Wismar shipyard by the end of the year because the yard had been sold to Thyssenkrupp’s naval unit, which plans to build military vessels there.

Demand for cruise ships has collapsed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Global Dream II and its sister ship Global Dream – which is not being scrapped for now – would have been the world’s largest cruise ships by passenger capacity when complete.

At 208,000 tons they would have been jointly the sixth largest cruise ships by size, just behind Royal Caribbean’s five Oasis-class ships.

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A massive unfinished cruise ship is likely to be sold for scrap because no one wants to buy it

The half-finished cruise ship Global Dream II could be sold for scrap.

MV Werften was building it for Dream Cruises. Its parent company declared bankruptcy in January.

A second vessel, Global Dream, is about 80% finished but struggling to find a buyer, An Bord said.

A massive unfinished cruise ship is likely to be sold for scrap after its maker declared bankruptcy because no one wants to buy it, the German cruise-industry magazine An Bord first reported.

Attempts are being made to sell some of the fixtures and engines from Global Dream II, Christoph Morgen, an insolvency administrator at Brinkmann & Partner, said at a press conference, according to An Bord.

After that, the vessel's half-finished keel — complete only in the lower-hull area — will be sold for scrap, Morgen said, according to An Bord.

A spokesperson for Brinkmann & Partner confirmed to Insider that components from the vessels, as well as the partly finished hull, were for sale.

MV Werften, the German shipbuilder that was constructing the vessel, is owned by the holding company Genting Hong Kong. Both filed for bankruptcy in January . The ship maker was building the vessel for a series of global-class ships for Dream Cruises, one of the three cruise lines owned by Genting.

Global Dream, the other vessel in the series, is also incomplete. It's sitting at the MV Werften dock in Wismar, Germany, An Bord reported. Earlier this month. the shipyard was sold to a maker of naval vessels that plans to build watercraft, including submarines, at the site starting in early 2024, An Bord reported. This leaves a year and a half to shift the two Global Dream ships.

Though numerous parties expressed interest in buying and finishing Global Dream, the insolvency administrator never received a proper offer, An Bord said.

Global Dream is about 80% finished, Morgen told the German radio station NDR . In its current state, the vessel is buoyant and can be towed elsewhere if attached to an ocean tugboat, An Bord reported.

But the ship was designed for service in Asia, and a new owner would have to spend a significant amount of money redesigning its cabin, deck, and drive concept if it wanted to deploy it elsewhere in the world, An Bord said.

The Swedish holding company Stena AB, which owns a ferry line, was interested in buying Global Dream but dropped out over uncertainty in the Asian cruise market, including China's strict restrictions on travel, according to reports .

If no serious offers are made for the vessel in the coming weeks, Global Dream will be sold in an auction where it could ultimately be bought for scrap, An Bord reported. The Maritime Executive reported that the liquidators denied these claims and maintained that they're looking for a buyer. The Brinkmann & Partner spokesperson told Insider that it hadn't been decided whether Global Dream would be sold at auction.

Work on Global Dream started in March 2018, and the vessel was set to debut in early 2021 as one of the biggest cruise ships. The 1,122-foot ship was intended to fit more than 9,000 passengers across 2,500 cabins , as well as 2,200 crew.

Dream Cruises said the cabins would be about 15% larger than those available on other vessels and include face- and voice-recognition software. The ship was also going to feature a theme park .

Before MV Werften stopped operations in January, it had close to 2,000 workers, according to The Maritime Executive.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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World's Largest Cruise Ship to Be Scrapped Before First Voyage

It may have cost around $1.4 billion to built, but the global dream ii is destined to be trash..

The ship that would have become the world’s largest cruise liner has been scrapped before it ever had the chance to take its maiden voyage.

Wanna see the 15 largest cruise ships currently sailing the world’s oceans? Click here .

If wasting wild amounts of resources and money is your type of thing, this is the story for you.

Global Dream II was slated to carry 9,000 passengers and was built by German-Hong Kong shipbuilding firm MV Werften to the tune of nearly $1.4 billion, according to the Daily Mail . It was nearly finished when the company went bankrupt at the start of this year.

Since that happened, no buyer has stepped up to buy the 20-deck, 1,122-foot-long monstrosity. That means it’s now destined for the scrap heap. The Mail says that Global Dream II also features an outdoor waterpark and a movie theater. Man, I really don’t get cruises.

The capacity of this ship blows the second largest ship, the Oasis-class Wonder of the Sea which is owned and operated by Royal Caribbean, out of the water (I love a good pun). The Wonder of the Seas has a passenger capacity of only 6,988. Pathetic.

Despite the $1.4 billion put out to build this behemoth, the ship still needs about $230,000,000 worth of work. Apparently, it is structurally complete, but equipment and passenger facilities still need to be finished.

Eagle-eyed readers will have noted the “II” in the ship’s name. Yes, there is a twin Global Dream, but it hasn’t been given the ax… yet.

The Mail reports that right now the two ships are being stored in a German shipyard in Wismar. However, that yard will soon be used to build military vessels. That means the Global Dreams have to be out of there by the end of next year.

There still remains a glimmer of hope that a buyer can be found, with Stena potentially hoping to buy it for the Chinese cruise market. Industry experts TradeWinds said: ‘The Global Dream would have no problems finding a buyer in a strong cruise market. ‘Faced with the tight deadline to get the Global Dream out of its building dock by the end of 2023, recycling the ship in Turkey is a last resort that Morgen hopes to avoid.’ … The pandemic has hit the global travel industry, including cruise operators and led to production stops at shipyards that build cruise ships.

For me, it’s tough to say if it would be environmentally better if these two ships never set sail. The answer is probably yes. In the meantime, we can look at the fact the guy painted on the bow of the ships looks a lot like the decal on the side of The Fast and the Furious Toyota Supra .

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Massive Cruise Ship Scrapped Before It Sets Sail Once

The company that built the Global Dream II is selling off the parts and junking the rest.

KristinVShaw

I took a cruise once with my family when I was in college. Endless mocktails, corny game nights, all-you-can-eat shrimp, and the baked Alaska parade won my heart. Later, what seemed like a constant stream of news about fires on board, norovirus outbreaks, and overflowing toilets with passengers stuck at sea gave me pause, and I haven’t been back. I must be in the minority, though, because after a crushing stoppage for the pandemic between 2020 and 2021, the cruise industry is thriving once again. The Washington Post even reported that some cruise lines have reported record-breaking bookings this year.

Unfortunately, one cruise operator went a wee bit–er–overboard and ordered a giant 9,000-passenger ship that was set to take its maiden voyage early last year. And then it went bankrupt. Now, the Global Dream II will be ripped apart, its fixtures and engines sold and the rest scrapped.

MV Werften, Genting Hong Kong Limited’s shipbuilding operation, filed for provisional liquidation on January 18, 2022, putting an end to its vision of sailing the world's largest passenger ship. According to the Daily Star UK , two vessels had been built ( Global Dream and Global Dream II ) and the first was to leave the dock in 2021.

When demand cooled rapidly with no end in sight and the company filed for bankruptcy, the shipyard was sold to ThyssenKrupp's Marine System. Starting in 2024, the company plans to build submarines, frigates, and corvettes (in this case, a small warship designed for convoy escort duty, not a car) and has no place for cruise ships. In fact, the Global Dream is not quite finished, and MV Werften is running out of time to complete and sell the sister ship before ThyssenKrupp takes over.

From the photos, it looked as though the Global Dream II was to be a magnificent boat complete with 20 decks, a water park, a gigantic movie theater, and enough staterooms for 9,000. Painted in colorful artwork from bow to stern, it might have been a great floating vacation spot for those who don't mind being that close to thousands of people for an extended period of time. Soon, however, it will be recycled; perhaps it will be reborn as something else with a chance at success.

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Disney Buys Unfinished Sister of Scrapped 'World's Largest Cruise Ship'

Disney Cruise Line has announced it’s bought what is expected to be the world’s largest cruise ship when it is finished. Global Dream, the sister ship to the now-scrapped Global Dream II , has been sitting partially finished since German-Hong Kong shipbuilder MV Werften went bankrupt earlier this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Disney says it will work with Meyer Werft, another German shipbuilder who the mouse has worked with before, to finish the yet-to-be-renamed Global Dream. It’s expected to set sail sometime in 2025 with a capacity of around 6,000 passengers and 2,300 crew members. That’s down from the 9,000 passengers Global Dream II was expected to be able to carry. Sadly, that will take Global Dream out of contention for “world’s largest cruise ship” itself.

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When it’s done, Global Dream will become the seventh-largest cruise ship in the world by gross tonnage.

The Fast and Furious bow of Global Dream II.

We previously reported that Global Dream II cost about $1.4 billion to get to the point it was when it was scrapped, and it would have taken another $230 million to complete it. Unfortunately, we do not have word on exactly how much Disney paid for its sister or how much it will cost to complete. However, the company does say it was a “favorable” price.

The mouse says the 208,000-gross-ton ship is expected to be the first in the cruise industry fueled by green methanol. Disney says it’s one of the lowest emission fuels available for this sort of application.

Exact amenities on the ship are yet to be announced, but its sister was expected to have an outdoor waterpark, movie theater, 20 decks and a 1,122-foot monastery. Time will tell if Disney’s completed Global Dream will have any of that.

Global Dream, or whatever Disney decides to call it, will become the company’s eighth (and largest) cruise ship.

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18 Cruise Ships Were Scrapped in 2022: Here’s the Full List

• January 17, 2023

Continuing a trend that started in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, several older and smaller cruise ships were beached for scrapping in 2022.

While 20 new vessels entered service during the he year , a total of 18 cruise ships were also sold to scrapyards in Turkey, India and Pakistan.

For a complete market overview of ships moving between owners and leaving the market, see the Secondhand Market Report by Cruise Industry News.

Here’s a complete list of the cruise ships beached for scrapping this year:

Fuji Maru Capacity: 326 Tonnage: 23,235 Year Built: 1989 Beaching Date: January 2022 Breaking Yard: Gadani, Pakistan

After several years out of service, the former Fuji Maru ended its sailing career early in the year. Once operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Line, the 1989-built vessel was beached for scrapping in Gadani, Pakistan.

Century Harmony (ex-Carnival Fascination) Capacity: 2,040

Tonnage: 70,367 Year Built: 1994 Beaching Date: February 2022 Breaking Yard: Gadani, Pakistan

The ex-Carnival Fascination was beached for scrapping at the Gadani Ship Breaking Yard in 2022. Operated by Carnival Cruise Line until 2020, the Fantasy-class vessel arrived at the ship dismantling facility in February.

Oriental Dragon (ex-Sun Viking) Capacity: 882 Tonnage: 18,455 Year Built: 1972 Beaching Date: February 2022 Breaking Yard: Gadani, Pakistan

Originally built for Royal Caribbean International, the former Sun Viking was also beached for scrapping in February. Last used as a floating casino in Asia, the 1972-built vessel enjoyed a long career, cruising for several operators, before arriving at the Gadani Shipbreaking Yard in Pakistan.

Carnival Sensation Capacity: 2,040 Tonnage: 70,367 Year Built: 1993 Beaching Date: April 2022 Breaking Yard: Aliaga, Turkey

After being retired by Carnival Cruise Line in early 2022, the Carnival Sensation sailed directly to a ship breaking yard in Aliaga, Turkey. The Fantasy-Class vessel was then beached for recycling in April , concluding its 30-year sailing career.

Delphin Capacity: 470 Tonnage: 16,214 Year Built: 1975 Beaching Date: April 2022 Breaking Yard: Aliaga, Turkey

Last operated by Passat Cruises, the Delphin was sold for scrap value in March , as a result of an auction to settle debts of its former owners. Laid-up in Croatia since 2015, the 1975-built vessel headed to Turkey – where it was recycled along with other veteran cruise ships.

Titan (ex-Salamis Filoxenia) Capacity: 400 Tonnage: 15,402 Year Built: 1975 Beaching Date: April 2022 Breaking Yard: Gadani, Pakistan

Wrapping up a 47-year cruising career, the former Salamis Filoxenia arrived at the Gadani Shipbreaking Yard in April. Dismantled at the Pakistani recycling facility , the 400-guest vessel started its life as a Soviet cruise ferry before being converted into a full-time cruise ship in the 1980s.

SuperStar Libra Capacity: 1,494 Tonnage: 42,285 Year Built: 1988 Beaching Date: May 2022 Breaking Yard: Aliaga, Turkey

After serving as a floating hotel in Germany between 2018 and 2022, the SuperStar Libra was beached for scrapping in May. Formerly operated by Norwegian Cruise Line and Star Cruises , the 1988-built vessel is being dismantled in Aliaga, Turkey.

Odin (ex-Black Watch) Capacity: 807 Tonnage: 28,613 Year Built: 1972 Beaching Date: June 2022 Breaking Yard: Alang, India

Another classic cruise ship beached for scrapping in 2022, the former Black Watch was sold to shipbreakers in Alang, India. Last operated by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, the 1972-built vessel had been out of service since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marella Dream Capacity: 1,506 Tonnage: 55,000 Year Built: 1986 Beaching Date: June 2022 Breaking Yard: Aliaga, Turkey

After two years of being laid up in Greece, the former Marella Dream was beached for recycling at the Aliaga Shipbreaking Yar d in June. The 55,000-ton vessel was retired by Marella Cruises in 2020 and spent several months anchored at the Elefsis Bay.

Star Pisces Capacity: 1,090 Tonnage: 40,053 Year Built: 1991 Beaching Date: July 2022 Breaking Yard: Alang, India

The Star Pisces became the first ship of the former Star Cruises fleet to be beached for scrapping . After seeing its operator become insolvent in January 2022, the 1991-built vessel arrived in Alang for recycling in July.

Pearl II (ex-Saga Pearl II) Capacity: 446 Tonnage: 18,627 Year Built: 1981 Beaching Date: July 2022 Breaking Yard: Aliaga, Turkey

Out of service since early 2019, the former Saga Pearl II started its dismantling process in July. Sold to Turkish scrappers , the ship was built in 1981 and sailed for several operators, including Saga Cruises and TransOcean Tours.

Gold Club (ex-Golden Iris) Capacity: 1,000 Tonnage: 16,852 Year Built: 1977 Beaching Date: July 2022 Breaking Yard: Aliaga, Turkey

Wrapping up a five-decade career, the Golden Iris was also sold for scrapping in 2022 . Last operated by the Israel-based Mano Cruises, the 1977-built vessel was beached at Turkey’s Aliaga Shipbreaking Yard in July.

Horizon Capacity: 1,442 Tonnage: 47,000 Year Built: 1990 Beaching Date: August 2022 Breaking Yard: Aliaga, Turkey

With Pullmantur filing for insolvency in mid-2020, the Horizon ended up sold for scrapping in 2022 . After spending two years anchored at the Elefsis Bay, in Greece, the vessel was beached in August, concluding a 32-year sailing career.

Marella Celebration Capacity: 1,250 Tonnage: 33,930 Year Built: 1984 Beaching Date: September 2022 Breaking Yard: Aliaga, Turkey

In September, the Marella Celebration was beached for scrapping in Aliaga. Last operated by Marella Cruises, the 1984-built vessel spent two years anchored in Greece before being sold to the Turkish shipbreakers .

TSM Singapore (ex-Zenith) Capacity: 1,441 Tonnage: 47,255 Year Built: 1992 Beaching Date: September 2022 Breaking Yard: Alang, India

After almost three years in limbo, the former Zenith was sold for scrapping in 2022. Originally built for Celebrity Cruises, the 1992-built vessel also sailed for Pullmantur Cruises before being sold to Peace Boat in 2019. Renamed TSM Singapore, the ship was sold again before being beached in India .

Carnival Ecstasy Capacity: 2,040 Tonnage: 70,367 Year Built: 1991 Beaching Date: November 2022 Breaking Yard: Aliaga, Turkey

Following the Sensation, the Carnival Ecstasy was beached for scrapping in November . Soon after retiring from Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet, the Fantasy-Class ship sailed to Aliaga, where it’s currently being dismantled.

Gem (ex-SuperStar Gemini) Capacity: 1,948 Tonnage: 50,764 Year Built: 1992 Beaching Date: November 2022 Breaking Yard: Alang, India

In November, after spending several months laid up in Sri Lanka , the ex-SuperStar Aquarius was beached for scrapping in India. Previously operated by Star Cruises, the 1993-built cruise ship is now being dismantled along with its sister ship, the former SuperStar Aquarius .

Arius (ex-SuperStar Aquarius) Capacity: 1,530 Tonnage: 51,039 Year Built: 1993 Beaching Date: November 2022 Breaking Yard: Alang, India

Similar to the SuperStar Gemini, the former SuperStar Aquarius was beached for scrapping at the Alang Shipbreaking Yard in November. Previously, the ex-Star Cruises vessel spent several months laid up in Sri Lanka .

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Disney acquires world’s biggest ship Global Dream amid company bankruptcy

The “world’s largest” cruise ship was set to be scrapped after the shipbuilding company filed for bankruptcy. But Disney pounced on it.

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The “world’s largest” cruise ship, which was set to be scrapped before its maiden voyage, has now been acquired by Disney.

German-Hong Kong shipbuilding firm MV Werften had nearly completed construction of the ship — Global Dream II — when it filed for bankruptcy at the start of this year.

It was on the market for 10 months and if administrators couldn’t find a buyer, the 20-deck vessel would have ben scrapped.

However, last Wednesday Disney Cruise Line confirmed acquisition of the ship, noting it secured the mammoth vessel for “a favourable price”.

While the price tag hasn’t been disclosed, it reportedly costs $2 billion – with a further $340 million needed for completion.

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It is currently located at the former MV Werften shipyard in Wismar, Germany, where it will remain until construction is complete under the management of Meyer Werft — the Papenburg-based company that built the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wish.

The ship will be renamed with certain features reimagined under the expertise of its “imagineers”.

“The new ship, to be based outside the United States, will feature innovative Disney experiences along with the dazzling entertainment, world-class dining and legendary guest service that set Disney Cruise Line apart,” it read on the Disney Parks website.

“The exterior will be adorned in the iconic, Mickey Mouse-inspired colours of the fleet, complete with signature red funnels.”

The 189,000-tonne ship, originally built to carry 9000 passengers — reportedly making it the world’s largest by passenger capacity — will be reduced to approximately 6,000 with around 2,300 crew members.

Its original design features included the first theme park at sea, plans for the longest roller coaster at sea., 350 metres of water slides, an inflatable obstacle course, a surf simulator, a trampoline park and mini karts.

Areas such as a large casino will be also redesigned in keeping with Disney’s family-oriented cruises, according to Maritime Executive .

Meanwhile, the mammoth ship is expected to be among the first in the cruise industry to be fuelled by green methanol, one of the lowest emission fuels available.

Disney plans for it to join the Disney Cruise Line fleet in 2025.

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The administrator for MV Werften, Christoph Morgen, said the sale is great news for the shipbuilders.

“Several hundred current and previous employees of MV Werften, colleagues from Meyer Group and numerous suppliers will complete the impressive shipbuilding project in Wismar over the next two years so that it can set sail for Disney Cruise Line as a sustainable family cruise vessel in the future,” Mr Morgen said.

Currently, Disney Cruise Line sails to destinations including the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Mexico, Canada, Hawaii, the South Pacific and, as of next year, Australia and New Zealand .

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Disney Just Bought the World’s 7th-Largest Cruise Ship, the 1,122-Foot ‘Global Dream’

The vessel's original shipbuilder halted construction earlier this year after declaring bankruptcy..

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Disney just bought a ship as big as one of its blockbuster movies.

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No amenities have been announced yet, but the company said the ship will feature “innovative Disney experiences along with the dazzling entertainment, world-class dining and legendary guest service that set Disney Cruise Line apart.” The ship, which will be based outside of the US, will also be one of the first fueled by low-emission green ethanol.

The finished boat will have room for 6,000 passengers and around 2,300 crew members. That would make it smaller than its sister was expected to be— Global Dream II was supposed to have room for 9,000 passengers—but the 208,000-gross-ton boat will still be the world’s seventh largest and the largest in Disney’s fleet. The conglomerate did not reveal how much it paid for the Global Dream , other than to say it was secured at a “favorable price.”

“Our cruise ships give us the unique opportunity to bring Disney magic to fans no matter where they are, and the addition of this ship will make a Disney Cruise Line vacation accessible to more families than ever before,” Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, said in a statement.

Bryan Hood is a digital staff writer at Robb Report. Before joining the magazine, he worked for the New York Post, Artinfo and New York magazine, where he covered everything from celebrity gossip to…

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Two more iconic cruise ships from the 1990s head to the scrappers

Two vessels that helped transform the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet into a major travel brand have made their final journeys.

The 1,750-passenger SuperStar Gemini and 1,750-passenger SuperStar Aquarius, which Norwegian fans will remember as Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Wind, have arrived in Alang, India, the site of a major ship scrapping operation.

On Monday, ship tracking sites showed the two vessels located at Alang after short voyages without passengers from Sri Lanka, where they had been for several months.

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Originally unveiled in 1992 and 1993 as the Dreamward and Windward, respectively, the two ships joined the Norwegian fleet at a time when the line was a much smaller company than it is today. In the early 1990s, Norwegian operated just a half dozen vessels — a third of the number in the line's current fleet.

The arrival of the two ships and half a dozen others in the 1990s transformed the brand into a major player in North America tourism.

The vessels sailed with Norwegian for 15 and 14 years, respectively — first as Dreamward and Windward, and then, after name changes in 1998, as Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Wind.

The name changes came after both ships were lengthened by more than 100 feet in 1998 to add more cabins and other amenities.

Related: The 8 types of Norwegian Cruise Line ships, explained

Norwegian Wind left the Norwegian fleet in 2007, and Norwegian Dream departed the brand in 2008. In both cases, they were transferred to Star Cruises, an Asia-based line that marketed to Asian travelers.

At the time of the transfer, Norwegian and Star Cruises were intertwined financially.

Star Cruises collapsed earlier this year after a liquidity crunch at its parent company brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the vessels haven't sailed with paying passengers since January.

Star Cruises was part of Genting Hong Kong, which also owned the luxury line Crystal Cruises and Asia-based Dream Cruises. Both of those lines shut down earlier this year, too, as part of a wider collapse of Genting Hong Kong. Crystal now is in the midst of restarting operations under a new owner.

The former Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Wind are just the latest iconic vessels from the 1990s to head to the scrappers. Just last month, the 2,052-passenger Carnival Ecstasy, a Carnival Cruise Line ship, made its final voyage to a scrapyard in Turkey .

Dating to 1991, Carnival Ecstasy was the sixth of eight 1990s-built ships at Carnival to head to the scrappers since early 2020.

While still much-beloved by some cruisers for their small sizes, cruise vessels from the 1990s lack many of the amenities of newer cruise ships, such as a wide array of restaurants, bars and deck-top amusements. They also were often built without large numbers of cabins with balconies — the type of cabin that everyone wants today.

Both Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Wind measured about 50,000 tons. While relatively big for their time, they were less than one-quarter the size of today's biggest cruise ships. The biggest cruise ship currently at sea, Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas , measures 236,800 tons.

In heading to the scrapyards of Alang, India, Norwegian Dream and Norwegian Wind are joining a long list of iconic cruise ships from the early decades of the industry, including Carnival's first-ever vessel, Mardi Gras, and Celebrity Cruises ' Zenith.

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Marella Cruises' ship Marella Dream sold for scrap

The operated by Marella Cruises UK ship Marella Dream has reportedly been sold for scrap and will be heading to the Aliaga Ship Breaking Yard (near Izmir Turkey ). 

According to a weekly report released on November 16 by Anchor Shipbroking Inc (Greece), Marella Dream is among the vessels listed for demolition. The report says that the liner had been sold to a Turkish scrapyard for an undisclosed price.

In October, Marella UK announced it was retiring the 34-year-old Marella Dream (fka Thomson Dream) from its fleet after 10 years of service but the fate of the ship had been unknown. The liner joined TUI Cruises (Marella's parent company) in 2010 as "Thomson Dream" and later was renamed "Marella Dream" following the Thomson Holidays' rebranding.

The 1986-built Marella Dream was a leased vessel (operated under charter). The ship was originally named "MS Homeric" (built for the now-defunct Home Lines) and in 2010-2020 was operated under a long-term charter (expiring in 2021) by the UK company Marella Cruises (fka "Thomson Cruises").

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Record 35 cruise ships scrapped since COVID-19 pandemic began

The toll that COVID-19 has taken on the global cruise industry is apparent in the record number of cruise ships that have been sold for scrap in the last three years, with 35 cruise ships sent to breakers’ yards since 2020.

Carnival Cruise Line, the largest cruise company in the world, led the trend in 2020 when it confirmed that a total of 18 cruise ships would be sold from its fleet , many of them ultimately doomed for scrapping.

In 2020, a total of 9 cruise ships were scrapped, followed by 11 in 2021, with 15 due to be scrapped in 2022. That compares to just one ship that was scrapped in 2019.

15 cruise ships will be scrapped this year

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Cruise lines began selling off their fleets early on in the pandemic, when it became apparent that the cruise industry was going to be one of the hardest hit due to the way in which the virus spreads, and a patchwork of travel restrictions that were put in place globally.

In March, all the world’s major cruise lines suspended operations and cruise ships being moored offshore, unable to dock, became an early symbol of the coronavirus’s global spread.

Images of passengers confined aboard Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Japan after a COVID-19 outbreak onboard further reinforced the perception that cruise ships are more susceptible to the spread of the virus than other forms of travel.

Facing an extended shutdown and haemorrhaging huge amounts of money, several cruise lines began to declare bankruptcy in 2020, Cruise & Maritime Voyages was the first major line to liquidate , then the Spanish cruise line Pullmantur .

In 2021, Hong Kong-based Genting (owner of Star Cruises, Dream Cruises and Crystal Cruises) declared bankruptcy after more than a year of deteriorating finances.

In August 2020, the world’s three largest cruise lines (Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings) were burning through more than a billion dollars per month .

The untenable situation forced Carnival Corporation to sell 18 cruise ships across its 9 cruise line brands to bring down costs, while Royal Caribbean let go of 7 ships across its Royal Caribbean International and Azamara brands.

Many of these cruise ships were sold for scrap, but are only reaching the breakers yard this year.

The ships due to be scrapped in 2022 are: Fuji (former Fuji Maru) Century Harmony (former Carnival Fascination) Oriental Dragon (originally Song of Norway) Carnival Sensation Delphin (originally Byelorussiya) Titan (former Gruziya/Salamis Filoxenia) SuperStar Libra (former Norwegian Sea) Odin (former Black Watch/Royal Viking Star) Marella Dream (former Homeric/Westerdam) Star Pisces Pearl II (former Saga Pearl II/Astor) Golden Iris (former Cunard Princess/Rhapsody) Marella Celebration (former Noordam) TSM Singapore (former Zenith)

Although it did immense damage then, COVID-19 has not proved to be an existential threat for the industry. In late 2021, the industry returned to sea in gathering numbers, and by 2022, bookings had surged to pre-pandemic levels.

The industry has taken on huge amounts of debt though, the three major listed cruise companies — which between them control four-fifths of the industry — have all more than doubled their gross debt over the past two years, according to The Financial Times .

However, the 35 cruise ships that have been scrapped since 2020 all represent the oldest ships in the fleet, making all the cruise lines more efficient as the remaining tonnage is more modern, carries more passengers and offers more attractions and onboard features.

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Categories: Cruise Industry , Cruise Features , News

Tagged as: COVID-19 , cruise industry , scrapped

Published by Shaun Ebelthite

Founder and editor of Cruise Arabia & Africa. I try to create the best news and information specifically for cruise passengers taking cruises to and from Dubai (where I live) and South Africa (where I was born). You can contact me at shaun(at)cruisearabiaonline.com. View all posts by Shaun Ebelthite

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