Since the pandemic has hit the number of cruise ships being sold off and dismantled for scrap has
drastically increased. In this episode, we take a look at the casualties and predict some other
cruise ships that might be sold off and scrapped soon. The sad news is your favorite cruise ship
may never be back. Ahoy, their cruisers welcome to this video. Please make sure you hit that
subscribe button right down there below. Go on guys, do it! We need you to keep subscribing
so we can keep producing more videos just like this one. As you already know, the pandemic has
meant cruise lines are losing millions of dollars every day. One big way to combat this and get some
money back is to sell off some of those less reliable and more costly cruise ships to run.
So far in the pandemic, 26 ships have been scrapped or sold. How crazy is that 26,
David! That's a crazy number. And it's so sad as well at the same time. Usually, cruise ships have
more than 40 years of life in them. Sometimes older ships are sold off for another company
to use but it's rare for newer cruise ships to be sent to scrap. But in these uncertain times, ships
built in the mid-90s have even been scrapped and there's even a waiting list for cruise ships to be
dismantled around the world. Maintaining cruise ships that aren't in use is very expensive. So
many cruise companies are selling parts of their fleet for scrap. Luckily for some of the newer
ships, they're not going to be scrapped just yet. They've been saved. They've been sold off to other
cruise companies around the world. So let's take a look at which ships have been scrapped or sold,
how and where they're scrapped, and which ones could be next. First up the Carnival Corporation.
The company that owns lines such as Princess, Carnival Cruises, Holland America, Cunard, P&O,
have announced that 19 of their ships would be sold off and removed from service. That
is a whopping 13 of their entire fleet. So let's take a look at some of these casualties. First up
from the Carnival cruise line. So far the Carnival Fantasy built-in 1990, Carnival Fascination 1994,
Imagination 1995, and Inspiration built-in 1996, have all been sold off, and unfortunately,
all but Carnival Fascination have been scrapped. It looks likely that that ship will be scrapped
soon. All of these ships were built in the 90s and they were revolutionary when they first came out.
They provided some of the much-needed competition to lines like the Royal Caribbean. They were
proper good ships. The interiors were over the top wacky and very unique to Carnival. Different
from anything else that was at sea. As you can see these ships are mostly under 30 years old. Shaving
over 10 years off their normal lifespan. So other Carnival Corporation ships to be sold include
sun and sea Princess from Princess Cruises. We also think it will make sense for Princess to sell
off pacific Princess in the near future as it's a one-of-a-kind ship. For Holland America, there's
Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Veendam, and Maasdam. Oceana from P&O cruises in the Uk was sold as well.
Some of these ships have found new life with other companies such as the British cruise line
Fred Olsen and Greek cruise line Celestyal Cruises. Wow, so many ships there guys! Have
you sailed on any of the ships? Let us know in the comments section below. One story that just came
out this week and is super sad. Talking about those newer ships being scrapped the youngest
comes from Costa Cruisers who are an Italian company and also a Carnival cruise company. The
Costa Victoria was only built-in 1996 so she's so much younger than many of the other cruise ships.
She's not even been sold off, she's being sold for scraps. How sad is that? That is crazy for a 24
years old. But these ships, like you said, are so expensive to keep running and if there's nobody
else that wants to take them it's the only other option. Absolutely. And we know that
there are still at least four other ships from the Carnival Corporation fleet that will be sold
off or scrapped. We just don't know which ones they are yet but as soon as we hear - we'll let
you know. So next up we have the Royal Caribbean. During the pandemic, they're strongly denied that
any ships would be sold off. But that changed as the pandemic went on. The ships that have been
sold off are the Majesty of the Seas which was built in 1992, Empress of the Seas built-in 1990.
Also, ex-Royal Caribbean ships the sovereign which was built in 88 and the monarch which was built in
1991 have been scrapped. These ships were mainly built for shorter three and four-day Caribbean
cruises. Empress and Majesty were particular favorites with cruisers when built. They were some
of the most ground-breaking ships at sea. They were smaller and had more intimate areas onboard
and it's sad because the Empress was only refitted with brand new features
and given a stem to stir makeover back in 2016. The Majesty of the Seas still won fans with its
classic design and introduced thousands of people to cruising thanks to its more
affordable itineraries. They were really popular guys - real fan favorites in the industry. Yeah,
the good news is that these two ships -Majesty and Empress - have only been sold off at the moment.
So it hasn't been confirmed they're going to be scrapped. So fingers crossed we see them with
another cruise line. Sovereign of the Seas debuted back in 1988 at the time it was an
icon of modern-day cruising. It was the world's first mega-ship. It ushered in a brand new era
of cruise vacationing that continues to this day. So it's so sad to see her go without any fanfare.
Just quietly sailing off into the night to be scrapped. That is very poetic there though Ben
though. I know. So that's all the sovereign ships now gone from the Royal Caribbean fleet.
It's crazy to think - like you said - at the time they were seen as mega-ships. But then I guess
you compare them to what we've got now and they're practically little dinghies. So far as other Royal
Caribbean ships are being sold. In the future, we predict that there are a few that might be in
danger. Mainly the grandeur of the Seas and the Rhapsody of the Seas. We think these could be up
for sale shortly or even going for scrap. So it's very sad, isn't it? It is sad. One of the cruise
lines that has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic is CMV. Also known as cruise and maritime
voyages. They were a UK-based cruise line with five cruise ships. Unfortunately,
the company went bust in the summer of 2020 as a direct consequence of what is going on.
Meaning that all five ships have been sold and some have been scrapped. Marco polo and Astor have
been confirmed to be scrapped but the others don't look like they have a bright future - just because
they're quite old ships. Yeah and just because they're old Bend doesn't mean that they're not
loved. These ships again were popular with cruise fans. Some other notable ships that have been sold
or due to be scrapped include Marella cruises, the Marella Dream, and the Marella Celebration,
from P&O Australia the pacific dawn, Fred Olson the black watch, and the Boudicca. Isn't it
buddhisia? Is it buddhist? It might be. Isn't it like it's boudicca or buddhisia? What's it's the
middle name of the vicar of Dibley? Oh well! The "Boo to see her'' slash Boudicca. However,
you pronounce it! So David, how are these ships scrapped and where are they scrapped? Because it
must be a big business. Yeah, this isn't just like taking your car down to the local scrapping plant.
These ships need to be scrapped in Asia or turkey at specialist plants. It is a huge job
but it's a lucrative business as almost everything on the ship is recycled, reused, or resold. The
ship recycling industry supplies more than 40 of the world's raw material needs. That's crazy.
That is crazy. Almost half! It generates 600 million-plus tons of recyclables every year with a
revenue of over 200 billion dollars. That's crazy. So ship scrapping means providing raw materials to
steel mills, steel plate reef manufacturing, secondhand furniture, electrical equipment,
oils, and lubricants. It's crazy, isn't it? It is but just imagines how big these ships are and
what is in them. So you've got to think that is a lot of raw material there. Yeah, and it must be a
super hard job to get all of those materials separated and everything. Yeah I mean you've
seen on the news loads of pictures of ships being beached. Purposely is driven at speed onto a beach
or land for scrapping. But this isn't the most environmentally friendly way. Dry-docking a ship
and demolishing it there is faster by 50%. As well as being much safer and environmentally friendly.
With no risk of oil spillage into the sea. So it's really unfortunate to see ships being
beached. As that has a risk to maritime life as well as the ocean. But in contrast to that then
could it be a good thing for the environment that these ships have been taken offline?Yeah,
I mean classic ships - as you know - might be great and have a lovely history and be beloved
by many people. But many of them don't have newer technology on board that is less environmentally
friendly than some of the newer ships have. Yeah, newer ships are safer and cheaper to run.
And much better for the environment. It's going to be nice to be able to choose from some
more modern cutting-edge ships with the best and greatest technology. Yeah, and as you said
earlier - a lot of these ships were planned to be phased out. But just not so soon. They've
just ramped everything up so it's very sad. Do let us know if you've sailed on any of these ships or
if you have any predictions for ships that might be sold. That's it for this episode. Thank you so
much for watching. Please hit that subscribe button. We've got so much fantastic content
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And the captain of the week is Louisa. So ahoy there. That's it till next time. Happy cruising.