Tag Archives: scrap

The Alang Fleet: These Five Ships Will Be Scrapped in India

Posted on by
Reply
Karnika

Five cruise ships are in the process of being scrapped in India following the COVID-19 pandemic which has accelerated the retirement of cruise ships.

Karnika
Capacity: 1,578
Tonnage: 70,130
Year built: 1990
Last Cruise Line: Jalesh Cruises

A victim of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jalesh Cruises was shut down by its owners in October. As a consequence, Karnika, the company’s sole vessel, was sold for scrap in November.

Ocean Dream
Capacity: 1,022
Tonnage: 36,674
Year built: 1982
Last Cruise Line: Peace Boat

The Ocean Dream was beached on New Year’s Eve, ending its 38-year seagoing career. Previously operated by the Peace Boat Organization, the vessel was replaced by the newer and larger Pacific World, the former Sun Princess. 

Marco Polo 
Capacity: 800
Tonnage: 22,080
Year built: 1965
Last Cruise Line: Cruise & Maritime

After Cruise & Maritime Voyages went into administration, the Marco Polo was auctioned in October. The new owners planned to use the ship on charter deals, looking into options that even included transforming it into a permanent hotel. None of the deal materialized.

Grand Celebration 
Capacity: 1,800
Tonnage: 47,262
Year built: 1987
Last Cruise Line: Bahamas Paradise
Operating for Bahamas Paradise since 2015, the Grand Celebration was sold in November. While the cruise line initially denied the sale, the 1987-built vessel set course to India, arriving in Alang on January 11.   

Satoshi (ex-Pacific Dawn)
Capacity: 1,590
Tonnage: 70,000
Year built: 1991
Last Cruise Line: P&O Australia

Sold by P&O Australia in October, the former Pacific Dawn was set to become a floating tech hub off the coast of Panama. The plan, however, fell through in December and the ship, now named Satoshi, was sold to Indian breakers.  

Costa Victoria sold for scrap

Posted on by
Reply
Costa Victoria sold for scrap

Costa Cruises confirmed that the Costa Victoria has left its fleet, with ownership transferred to a subsidiary of the San Giorgio del Porto shipyard. The ship awaits demolition.

Earlier this month, Costa parent company Carnival Corp. said plans were in place to remove six ships within 90 days, with more to come. Carnival Corp. accelerated plans already in place because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last week, the 23-year-old Costa Victoria arrived in Piombino, Italy, where San Giorgio has a subsidiary yard, according to the city’s mayor. In a Facebook post, the mayor said that the 1,928-passenger ship was being prepared for demolition.

Carnival Corp. had said in an earlier release that San Giorgio is the only Italian company listed in the Register of Environmental Ship Reclamation & Recycling Facilities and able to carry out green ship recycling projects.

San Giorgio is the shipyard that carried out the recycling and demolition of the Costa Concordia after the ship ran aground and partly sank in January 2012.

The QE2 to be ‘sold for scrap’ to Chinese

Posted on by
Reply

The QE2 to be ‘sold for scrap’ to Chinese

Dec 24, 2012

Former Cunard flagship The QE2 is set to be sold to the Chinese for scrap for £20 million after a bid to bring it back to the UK as a five-star floating hotel failed.

The ship has been moored in a commercial port in Dubai since it was sold for £64 million in 2008.

A British consortium presented owner Dubai World with a bid to bring the QE2 to London and convert into a five star hotel moored opposite the O2 Arena.

The QE2 London bid could have brought up to 2,000 jobs to London.

However a Chinese crew of around 20 boarded the QE2 last Friday leading to fears it has already been sold as scrap, the Daily Mail reported.

They replaced a crew of around 40 who had been maintaining the QE2 in Port Rashid for the last four years.

Roger Murray of QE2 London told the newspaper: “We have been told the ship is going to be put into a dry dock before being taken to an unknown destination in the far east.

“That is a tragedy because it almost certainly means the QE2 is being sold as scrap.

“Our investors were going to give £20 million for the ship itself plus £60 million for renovation and the cost of bringing the ship back to Britain.

“But the ship could raise as much as £20 million as dead weight scrap and the Chinese cash would be immediate.”

Alaric Errington from an organisation called Equity in Finance was leading the investment consortium behind the QE2 London bid.

He said: “This is a fantastic opportunity and we put forward a very commanding commercial proposition that was designed to give Dubai a future return.

“The QE2 is an icon but our proposal also makes business sense. The cost of renovating the QE2 and bringing it back to the UK is no more than acquiring land in central London to build a luxury hotel.”

When Istithmar – part of the state conglomerate Dubai World – bought the QE2 from Cunard in 2007 it agreed it would not sell it on for at least ten years.

But a source close to Dubai World said he believed “a contract modification could be agreed” allowing it to be sold on for scrap, according to the report.

Dubai World was unavailable for comment.