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The ship’s structural integrity can be questionable, and it can be filled with jagged pieces of corroded metal. If the ship was abandoned in a remote location, seemingly insignificant injuries could prove to be life-threatening. There is also the fact that visiting some abandoned cruises is prohibited by local authorities, so that you could risk fines and more serious penalties. Aside from the legal ramifications of exploring an abandoned cruise ship, it can also be hazardous.
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In other cases, disposing of a grounded cruise ship could pose serious environmental concerns. Launched in 1956, the TSS Duke of Lancaster was built at the Belfast shipyards of Harland & Wolff where the RMS Titanic was constructed almost a half-century earlier. The 4,450 ton, 1,800 passenger steamer operated as a passenger ferry on the Heysham-Belfast route and as a cruise ship calling at a variety of European ports from Spain to Norway for the better part of two decades. In November of 1978, the venerable Duke was retired from service on the seas… a new, landlocked career was about to begin. Despite her storied past and reputation, it was decided that the QE2 should be sold to a Dubai-based investment company for $100 million. Following her final voyage to Dubai, which included thousands of passengers, the new owners could not decide what to do with the famous vessel.
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SS United States was built in 1951 and departed on her maiden voyage in 1952 for United States Lines. The ship is the largest ever ocean liner built in the US and still holds the blue ribbon for the fastest ocean line crossing the Atlantic. Many who explored the abandoned ship have described its interior as a time capsule due to its relatively pristine condition. Even glassware and bedding remain as she awaits her final voyage to a scrap yard.
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MS Astor
"Any fuel that can be removed is used to help in the scrapping process (powering winches), burned off or sold for use on other ships." "At both places, ships are run up onto the shore and gradually cut down," Peter Knego, a journalist and ocean liner historian who runs the YouTube channel Peter Knego's MidShipCinema, told TPG. A lucky few vessels were purchased by other operators, but most were sent to cruise graveyards after they were sold for scrap. "They are stripped of all contents, then gradually cut down and dragged up the beach until the last keel plates are demolished," explained Knego, who features many photos of ships during the scrapping process on his website, Midship Century.
Kiwie’s work was augmented and complemented by a wealth of “bright and surreal” graffiti by acclaimed artists including Dale Grimshaw, Dan Kitchener, Snub23, Spacehop, and Fin DAC. The latter’s eye-popping “Mauricamai” covers most the Duke’s stern and has been breathtakingly captured above by Flickr user Mike. But MS Astor was a victim of the unprecedented challenge, and it now sits by a beach at one of the biggest ship demolition sites in the world in Aliaga, Turkey. Finally, in 2023, a plan was announced to restore the SS United States by RXR Realty and MCR Hotels. The plan is for the ship to hold 1,000 rooms onboard, along with a restaurant and a range of features that guests can enjoy.
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Exploring abandoned cruise ships has enticed all sorts of adventurists and explorers. The largest cruise ship scrap yard is in Alang, India, and it recycles more than 50 percent of the world's abandoned and decommissioned cruise ships. In the cruise industry, we celebrate the birth of new vessels with press conferences and smashed bottles of Champagne, but rarely do we address what happens to retired cruise ships. If you've been wondering where your old favorite vessels disappeared to, here's what you need to know about cruise ship scrapping and graveyards. As ships age, cruise lines have several choices, which include extensively refurbishing and relocating vessels to smaller, less popular regions; transferring or selling them to other lines; or sending them to a cruise ship junkyard for scrapping.
The MS World Discoverer is the most notorious example of this concern, as environmentalists are worried that the deteriorating ship’s fuel tanks and engine parts will eventually leak oil into the surrounding water. This is because cruise ships are often constructed of materials that can contaminate marine environments over time. This is particularly true of older vessels regularly made with hazardous materials like asbestos and lead.
However, the shipbuilder MV Werften filed for bankruptcy in January 2022 and the administrators cannot find a buyer for Global Dream II. The Mediterranean Sky started sailing in 1953 under her original name of MS City of York after being constructed at the Vickers Shipbuilding complex in the UK. The ship operated for Ellerman Lines, which eventually was sold off to other shipping companies until the cruise line’s name fully disappeared in 2004. "There are higher standards today, but the beach [in Alang] is still rather toxic with PCBs, leaked fuel, paint and other toxic substances. The amount varies from yard to yard and how environmentally conscious the specific breakers are. However it never happened because of the company’s demise and instead the ship was sold off at auction for $1.7 million.
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While the ship was supposed to be refurbished and converted into a floating hotel, the 2008 global recession that followed her final voyage halted these plans. After much debate, it was determined that the ship would indeed be converted into a luxury hotel, which followed over a decade of abandonment in a very public location. Cruise ships remain incredibly valuable assets even when they are no longer serviceable. We think of cruise ships as engineering marvels outfitted with lavish interiors and a wide variety of amenities, but what happens to them when they are abandoned? To answer this question, we will take a deep dive into the world of abandoned cruise ships. During the day, they also host ship tours and temporary exhibits, which allow guests to feel like they have traveled back in time.
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. Most decommissioned cruise ships are taken for dismantling at a ship scrapping yard. After the cruise line has removed everything of value, the remaining hull of the ship is auctioned off and eventually sent to a scrap yard that can handle dismantling a vessel of that size. What was meant to be one of the world’s largest cruise ships is being prepared for its maiden voyage – to a scrapyard.
In the aftermath of the wreck, Society Expedition refurbished an ice-class vessel and called it World Discoverer. Society Expedition ceased operations in June 2004 after their new vessel was seized by creditors in Nome, Alaska. Two weeks later, it filed for chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy.[11] After further name changes, the later ship now operates as Silver Explorer. MS World Discoverer was a cruise ship designed for and built by Schichau Unterweser, Germany in 1974. During construction called BEWA Discoverer, the ship was completed in Bremerhaven, Germany. In 2000, the ship struck an underwater obstacle and was damaged; it was subsequently grounded – to prevent sinking – and abandoned in the Solomon Islands.
About 20 cruise ships will typically be decommissioned and dismantled each year, but that also depends on industry trends. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a significant decline in passenger numbers. This forced many cruise lines to decommission and scrap ships they could no longer afford to keep in operation, so the number of decommissioned ships increased substantially. Given how valuable full-size cruise ships are, regardless of their age and condition, you might wonder why they would ever sit abandoned rather than being taken for recycling at a ship scrapping yard.
While the ship has since been stripped of all valuables by locals, it remains a popular tourist destination. Many adventurers and explorers travel out to the site of the abandoned MS World Discoverer to photograph the remaining hull. When this is complete, any remaining fuel is emptied, and interior fixtures, furnishings and other salvageable items are removed for resale before shipbreakers deconstruct the vessels for scrap using a variety of tools and machinery. "Aliaga in Turkey is a distant second," Peter Knego, journalist and ocean liner historian, told Cruise Critic. "There are also shipyards in China that scrap ships in a dry dock or alongside a berth versus on a beach."
Book a sailing on a sister ship that's still sailing, peruse old photos to reminisce or check eBay from time to time to see if anyone is selling memorabilia. In short, unless the abandoned ship is serving as an organized and legal tourist attraction, it is unlikely that exploring it would be lawful or safe. With SS United States being full of records and firsts, it’s been sad to see her rust away since first arriving in Philadelphia in 1996. The good news is that interest remains in bringing back the iconic US vessel, mainly thanks to the SS United States Conservancy organization never giving up.
