More Cruise Ships SENT TO SCRAP! Which Classic Cruise Ships are being sent for RECYCLING?

The COVID pandemic of 2020 and subsequent cruise shutdown, has led to more cruise ships being retired and scrapped than any year in recent memory.

The cruise shutdown has led to numerous older cruise ships ending their sailing days in 2020, with some unique and much loved ships recently being sold for scrap.

The first ship I wanted to discuss is Karnika, which is reportedly destined for scrap at Alang, India. If you haven’t heard of Karnika, it’s likely because she had been sailing for the new Indian cruise line – Jalesh Cruises – for less than a year before the COVID-19 pandemic crippled cruising.

You may know this ship as the 1990s built Crown Princess, Ocean Village II or Pacific Jewel. Designed by famous architect Renzo Piano for Sitmar Cruise Line, the dolphin-inspired design was transferred to Princess Cruises after its parent company – P&O – purchased Sitmar in the 1980s.

Entering service in 1990 as Crown Princess, the ship was paired with a near-identical fleet mate Regal Princess. Both ships sailed with Princess until the 2000s, with Crown Princess being the first to leave the fleet in 2002 – sailing first for A’Rosa as A’Rosa Blu, then Aida as AIDABlu.

In 2007, the ship transferred to Ocean Village and was renamed Ocean Village II – but only remained in that role for two years before heading down under to become Pacific Jewel for P&O Cruises Australia.

At P&O she was reunited with the former Regal Princess – sailing as Pacific Dawn, and the twins worked alongside another vessel designed by Sitmar – Pacific Pearl, the former Star Princess.

Pacific Jewel left the P&O Cruises fleet in 2019, completing a farewell voyage that sailed from Sydney to Fremantle, before heading north to Singapore. Here the ship was transferred to sail for the newly Jaleesh cruises.

Sadly her time at Jaleesh was cut short by the COVID pandemic. Despite plans to restart cruising in late 2020, it seems the ship will never see another fare paying passenger – with news breaking on 6 November that she had been sold for scrap at Alang.

The cruise ship Astor is another popular and much loved ship that's destined for the scrap yard. Sailing for CMV, the 20,700 ton Astor had developed a loyal following both in Europe and Australia in recent years.

MV. Astor became a regular fixture in the Transocean Tours line up, having also been chartered to a number of other smaller cruise brands.

MV. Astor started cruising for CMV Cruise Line in 2013, first on a chartered basis, but her popularity in the Australian market led to her becoming a permanent member of the CMV fleet.

Astor relocated each year to Australia in time for the Southern Hemisphere summer season, allowing the ship to offer a long “line voyage” between the UK and Australia as part of her itinerary.

In 2019 the Astor was superseded in the Australian market by CMV’s newer, larger, Vasco da Gamma – which prior to joining CMV had been sailing as P&O Australia’s Pacific Eden.

Sadly the collapse of CMV in 2020 saw Astor laid up – along with her fleet mates – with the ship sold in recent weeks to be scrapped at Alagia, Turkey – the same location where Sovereign, Monarch, Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Inspiration and Carnival Imagination have met their fate.

Two other CMV ships that enthusiasts are worried about are the Astoria and Marco Polo. Both among the oldest cruise ships afloat, Astoria dates back a remarkable 72 years to 1948 while Marco Polo is a more sprightly 55 years of age.

Both ships are expected to be scrapped in the coming months, however there is yet to be any official confirmation of this widely held consensus, giving hope that an 11th hour solution may save one, or both, of these classic ships.

While some of our favourite older ships are meeting the end of their days during 2020, it’s not all doom a gloom. Seajets recently acquired two of CMV’s ships – the 1988-built Columbus – which is the former Star Princess I mentioned earlier in this video – as well as the 1988-built Magellan – formerly Carnival Holiday.

These ships join a growing fleet at Seajets which include the former Holland America Maasdam and Veendam, as well as P&O’s former Oceana – though details of their future use still remains illusive.

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Image References:
My thanks to Patricia Dempsey - https://patriciadempsey.net/
SS Norway - Didier Duforest - CC-BY-SA 3.0 - https://bit.ly/3njnhvL
Astoria - N. Johannes - CC-BY-SA-4.0 - https://bit.ly/2IwKIDf
Magellan - Pjotor Mahhonin - CC-BY-SA-4.0 - https://bit.ly/2ItSyNA

Suggested Further Reading:
There's a great article from Anthony Marshall about the Karnika here: https://bit.ly/3pp0fWm
And a detailed feature about Astor from Malcolm Oliver here: https://bit.ly/3nelb0e

Other scrapping videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UyiCaEKWJI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doJuoRbKuZs

Thumbnail Recycle Logo: VICONS DESIGN VIA ADOBE SPARK. CC-BY-Attribution.

#cruisenews #cruiseship #cruiseshipnews

Видео More Cruise Ships SENT TO SCRAP! Which Classic Cruise Ships are being sent for RECYCLING? канала Chris Frame