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02 Jan 2021 // 1 minute read
Text by Cruise & Harbour News | Photos by Rui Minas
Marco Polo To Be Scrapped in Alang
At the age of 55, the iconic Marco Polo, one of the last survivors of the great Soviet fleet and the last in it's Poet class, has finally gotten it's days numbered, with several sources advancing that she should start her last trip, towards Alang, on the second week of January.
After the bankruptcy of Cruise & Maritime Voyages, the ship was auctioned for 2.7 million euros in Tilbury, and the plan included turning it into a workers' accommodation ship in Dubai until the cruise market recovered and then return it to the tourist operation. Apparently, however, this is not to be the case, and the vessel as already been sold to the Indian scrap giants of Alang, in Bhavnagar, where the ships Karnika and Ocean Dream are already beached, as well as where the Grand Celebration is underway.
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Alang is strengthening it's stance on the cruise ship scrap market, which, until recently, has been largely dominated by Aliaga, Turkey. Marco Polo will already be the tenth ship to be beached for dismantling since June: Sovereign, Monarch, Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Inspiration, Carnival Imagination and Astor were beached in Aliaga, Karnika and Ocean Dream in Alang, soon to be the Grand Celebration and later Marco Polo. These ten will be joined in the coming months, by the Satoshi, which should also be beached in Alang, in February, and the ships Marella Celebration, Marella Dream and Horizon, which should be beached in Aliaga as soon as there is room in the designated territory plots to which they are assigned. We should also remember that a number of ships have their future in doubt, with the Magellan currently docked at Duqm to serve as accommodation for workers, the Columbus anchored in the bay of Elefsina, known for being the final waiting place before the last voyages, the Astoria, which is docked in Rotterdam and is expected to be sold soon, and the Funchal which will go up for auction on the 29th of January.
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