COVID-19 pandemic forces cruising fleets to send ships to Aliaga shipyard in Turkey for demolition, to be further sold as scrap. By Tanvi Jain
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Cruise ships from Britain and the United States are being dismantled in Turkey for scrap metal sale after COVID-19 pandemic has managed to bring the industry to shambles. What once used to be the pride of the cruising fleets, are now being demolished at the country’s Aliaga shipyard, a place where ships which are no longer needed go for their final voyage.
Cruising industry was the first among other businesses to have faced the brunt of the pandemic, as the US authorities had issued a no-sail order in March 2020 itself. And, other countries such as the United Kingdom had issued advice against travelling in them.
“With the global Coronavirus pandemic pushing the multi-billion-dollar cruise industry into crisis, some cruise operators have been forced to cut losses and retire ships earlier than planned. The cruise industry has been one of the hardest-hit industries with public confidence in cruise holidays plummeting after a series of outbreaks occurred on cruise liners as the pandemic spread. The crisis, however, has bolstered the year’s intake of ships at the Aliaga ship recycling port with business up thirty per cent on the previous year,” Daily Mail reported.
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Out of the five ships that are now being dismantled at Aliaga, one is the Carnival Fantasy, which formerly used to be operated by Carnival Cruise Line and had taken its maiden voyage in 1990. Earlier in July, the Carnival Corporation had reportedly decided to remove 13 ships from its fleet. In fact, last month it had even laid off few of its crew members.
“Before the pandemic, Turkey’s ship-breaking yards typically handled cargo and container ships. But after the pandemic, cruise ships changed course towards Aliaga in a very significant way. There was growth in the sector due to the crisis. When the ships couldn’t find work, they turned to dismantle,” Kamil Onal, a ship recycling industrialists association chairman, told Reuters.
Related: Genting Cruise Lines Amps Its Cleaning Protocols To Voyage The Seas After COVID-19
