Sold Saved or SCRAPPED?! Cruise Ships heading to scrapyards. Which ships have been saved?

On 20 July, news broke that Cruise & Maritime Voyages - otherwise known as CMV – has gone into administration.

This popular British based cruise line operated a unique fleet of older ships, including the beloved Marco Polo, as well as Astoria, Astor, Magellan, Columbus and Vasco da Gama.


CMV was expected to take delivery of Pacific Dawn and Pacific Aria in 2021.
These two ships were supposed to be renamed Amy Johnson and Ida Pfeiffer respectively, and P&O was to replace them in their Australian line up with the larger Golden Princess – planned to be renamed Pacific Adventure.


The fate of CMV is the latest in a growing number of cruise ship casualties – victims of the ongoing and devastating COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last few months, we have seen numerous cruise ships sold, transferred or sent to scrap.

The first cruise line to falter was Pullmantur Cruises, which filed for reorganisation in June 2020.

The Spanish based cruise line operated three ships in 2020.

At the time of recording, both Monarch and Sovereign had arrived in Turkey, where it is expected they will be broken up. Horizon on the other hand is “drifting” at sea, having departed Piraeus on 20 July, with no known destination.

Costa Victoria was a surprise withdrawal from the Carnival Corporation stable in June. Early reports suggested that Costa Victoria would become a hotel ship for workers however, she was moved and the mayor said that she will be scrapped.

The ship entered Costa service in 1996, and was originally supposed to be part of a duo of ships for the line.

Another surprise departure was P&O’s Oceana, which left the P&O UK fleet only a matter of days after it was announced the ship had been sold. With her ultimate destination yet to be disclosed, Oceana departed Southampton on 8 July.

On 16 July, news broke that Fred Olsen had purchased Holland America’s popular and much loved cruise ships Amsterdam and Rotterdam. To be renamed Bolette and Borealis, these ships are significantly larger and newer than the existing ships of Fred Olsen’s Fleet.

The 62,700 ton Amsterdam originally entered service in 2000 while the slightly smaller Rotterdam commenced cruising in November 1997.

Holland America also sold two other ships, Maasdam and Veendam which are expected to leave the fleet in August 2020. At the time of recording, HAL had not announced the name of the new buyer. Maasdam and Veendam are the final members of the Statendam Class in the HAL fleet, with sister ships Ryndam and Statendam having moved to P&O Australia back in 2015. Ryndam currently remains at P&O as Pacific Aria while Statemdam has since left P&O and had been cruising as CMV’s Vasco Da Gama.


16 July brought some good news for Celestyal Cruises, who have bought the 53,000 gross ton Costa Cruises ship Costa NeoRomantica. Commencing service in 1993, the ship was originally called Costa Romantica but underwent an extensive refit and rebuilding in 2011, before emerging as the larger NeoRomantica.


Carnival Cruise Line’s 1990-built Carnival Fantasy is currently en-route to Izmir in Turkey. The first in Carnival’s much loved Fantasy class, the 70,300 gross ton ship is expected to arrive on 28 July.

While there is no official confirmation regarding Fantasy’s future, there is much speculation that she will be withdrawn from service upon arrival in Turkey – as Izmir is known for its scrapyard.

Carnival Inspiration is also en-route to Izmir, due to arrive on the 3rd August.

Are there any cruise ships that you are concerned about during the COVID-19 shut down? If so, let me know in the comments below.


Image References:

My thanks to Patricia Dempsey (https://patriciadempsey.net/), Andrew Sassoli-Walker and Vicki Cross for image support.

The below images are additional and referenced in the video:

Sovereign: Piergiuliano Chesi CC BY SA 3.0 https://bit.ly/2E9n25p
Horizon: Honischboy CC BY 4.0 https://bit.ly/3eNARTt
Monarch (1st Pic): Roel van Deursen CC BY 2.0 https://bit.ly/39j4cUN
Monarch (2nd Pic): Pjotr Mahhonin CC BY SA 4.0 https://bit.ly/39gROot
Horizon: Pjotr Mahhonin CC BY SA 4.0 https://bit.ly/2WEzyjJ
Norwegian Sky: Denis Santana CC BY SA 2.0 https://bit.ly/2OJlrVJ
Costa Neo Romantica (1st Pic): JoachimKohler-HB CC BY SA 4.0 https://bit.ly/32JFBHG
Costa Neo Romantica (2nd Pic): JoachimKohler-HB CC BY SA 4.0 https://bit.ly/3fQRIGx
Carnival Fantasy (1st Pic): Ron Cogswell CC BY 2.0 https://bit.ly/2CSarmq
Carnival Fantasy (2nd Pic): Phillyfan0419 CC BY 2.0 https://bit.ly/3eNEr08
Pacific: Flanderer CC BY SA 3.0 https://bit.ly/3hj5stQ
Carnival Inspiration (1st Pic): Altairisfar (Public Domain): https://bit.ly/39phLlF
Carnival Inspiration (2nd Pic) Spartan7W CC BY SA 3.0: https://bit.ly/3hBzk55

Music: YouTube Audio.

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Видео Sold Saved or SCRAPPED?! Cruise Ships heading to scrapyards. Which ships have been saved? канала Chris Frame