Gary Buchanan
As a result of the existential crisis caused by the pandemic, several major cruise lines found themselves in uncharted waters. To stem declining revenues from their fleets languishing in ports and anchorages around the world, they took the decision to consign ships, many still in their prime, to the breakers yard.
In 2020, the Grim Reaper wielded his scythe on: Ocean Dream; Pacific Dawn; Astor; Monarch; and Sovereign, while Carnival Corporation – the world’s largest cruise company – consigned their Fun-Ships: Fantasy; Imagination; and Inspiration to the steel-cutters torch.
No fewer than nine cruise ships in 2021 were consigned to the knacker’s yard. The first casualty was Costa Victoria, quickly followed by Grand Celebration; Albatros; and Celestyal Experience. Several Brit-popular ships were also ‘recycled’ including: Marco Polo; Magallan; and Columbus of the failed CMV Cruises. Boudicca of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines met a similar fate.
Already this year, the hour-glass has run out on no fewer than 10 ships, including: Superstar Libra; Star Pisces; Salamis Filoxenia; the former Celebrity Cruises’ Horizon; as well as British stalwarts: Black Watch and Marella Dream.
However, no maritime industry pundit could predict that a cruise ship, destined to be one of the largest and most consequential in the world, is setting a course for the scrap yard before it even embarks on its maiden voyage.
Commissioned by Asia-based Dream Cruises, Global Dream II was in the final stages of construction at the German shipbuilders MV Werften when both the cruise line’s parent company Genting Hong Kong, and the shipyard which they owned, filed for bankruptcy at the start of 2022. With a staggering price-tag of £1.2 billion so far, this Titan would have been, in terms of passenger capacity, the largest cruise ship in the world.
Currently languishing in Wismar, this 9,000-passenger vessel’s fate appears to be sealed as plans to complete the vessel at the shipyard on Germany’s Baltic Coast have collapsed and bankruptcy administrators can’t find a buyer. The engines and some equipment are for sale, while the glistening hull is set to be auctioned off for scrap. The cruise ship that never was might well be heading to an ignominious fate and joining the armadas of rusting hulks in their final resting place.
Where do ships go to be scrapped?
Most ships take their final bow at the killing beaches of Gadani, west of Karachi in Pakistan; Aliaga near Izmir in Turkey; Chittagong in Bangladesh; and the Yiangmin Yini Yard in China. Top of the charts with 31 per cent of all ship-breaking in the world is Alang on the Gulf of Cambay in India.
How are ships scrapped?
With its 10-mile long sloping beaches and 30-foot tidal variance, ships are rammed at full speed or dragged ashore by tugs during high tide. When the water recedes, workers clamber aboard, begin stripping, then cutting the ship down while gradually dragging it closer to shore until its final remains are sent off to numerous local steel plants.
What happens to all the scrapped material?
The steel plates are melted and refashioned into reinforcing bars for roads and other construction. There is a large secondary market where fittings such as toilets, chairs, lighting, panelling and other ship components are sold.
What is it like to work at a scrapping yard?
During its peak operations, there can be up to two hundred ships at Alang, ranging from fishing trawlers, ferries, cruise ships and container ships to massive oil tankers. People come from across India to do the work, which can be dangerous and exhausting.
With its cheap labour force and comparably lax environmental regulations, ship-breaking at Alang has become one of India’s most profitable industries. In recent years, there have been numerous improvements in workers’ safety and environmental care, although India is still a far cry from the EU or US where ship breaking is far more costly due to stricter regulations.
What happens to valuable or historic items?
Between 2004 and 2014, maritime historian and author Peter Knego made nine trips to Alang to rescue fittings from many historic liners and cruise ships. These included the 1961-built Empress of Canada (later Carnival’s first ship, Mardi Gras); the 1956-built Empress of Britain (later Carnival’s second ship, Carnivale); the 1960-built Windsor Castle; the 1961-built Transvaal Castle (later Carnival’s third ship, Festivale); the 1955-built Ivernia (later Franconia); the 1972-built Island Princess (later Discovery); and the venerable France, built in 1961 and later transformed into Norwegian Cruise Line’s flagship Norway.
Mr Knego told Telegraph Travel: “Each of these trips has not been without a certain degree of adventure and challenges such as skirting local authorities who forbid Westerners (especially those with cameras), climbing 30-foot Jacob’s ladders, mosquito-borne illness, monsoons, devastating heat and humidity.
"I have had 10 40-foot containers and two 20-foot containers' worth of fittings, artwork, panelling, railing, lighting, furnishing, logs and builders’ plans shipped to my home in California over the years.”
He has put this eclectic memorabilia to good use: “I have rebuilt my home with these items, having replaced every door, railing and light fixture with Mid-Century-style ocean liner items and my walls are lined with artworks from numerous ships. I have also made the spare items available to interior designers, ship enthusiasts and anyone with an eye for mid 20th Century design on my midshipcentury.com website,” he adds.
