The cruise business is sailing to the cemetery: how the coronavirus is ruining a multibillion-dollar industry
The pandemic of the new coronavirus has dealt a fatal blow to the multibillion-dollar cruise business. Dozens of gorgeous new cruise liners with huge swimming pools and golf courses end up in the Turkish ship graveyard.
Due to the decrease in demand for cruises, many companies had to send their ships for disposal ahead of time in order to reduce losses. Cruise companies in the USA and The UK is close to bankruptcy. The largest of them, Carnival Cruise Line, has already announced that it will scrap 13 ships by the end of 2020.
The largest cemetery of cruise ships is located in the Turkish port of Aliaga, 45 kilometers from Izmir. Now dozens of cruise ships have accumulated here.
On cruise liners, pools, jacuzzis and golf courses are visible. All this is in good condition.
Many cruise companies have to scrap ships earlier than planned. Many of these airliners could still be operated for more than one year.
In just one day on October 2, five giant cruise liners from the USA arrived in Aliaga.
A ban on cruises in a number of countries was announced after several ships at the beginning of the pandemic became floating hotbeds of coronavirus.
Previously, Turkish ship cemeteries received mainly cargo ships and container ships. In 2020, they will have to face such an influx of cruise liners for the first time.
Workers at the ship graveyard are gradually dismantling the ships.
The ship recycling business is actively growing and developing in Aliaga today.
One of the most notable vessels here is the Carnival Fantasy liner, which was launched in 1990 and overhauled just a year ago.
Most of the ships sent for scrap are luxury liners with a resource that has not yet been developed.
Despite the excellent condition, these vessels will no longer go to sea.
According to the owners of the ship cemetery, their business volume has grown by 30% this year.
It is unknown how the cruise industry will be able to recover after the end of the pandemic.
Drone images show the scale of the collapse of the entire cruise industry.
It takes up to six months to dismantle one cruise ship.
About 2,500 workers are currently working at the ship cemetery in Aliaga, while recruitment continues here.
In January, 700 thousand tons of steel were obtained from dismantled ships in Aliaga. According to the managers of the ship cemetery, by the end of the year this figure will reach 1.1 million tons per month.
Most of the ships arrive in Aliaga from the USA, Italy and the UK.
Almost everything that the workers manage to remove from the ship is turned into profit in the graveyard of ships.
The ship's furnishings are also completely sold out. According to the testimony of employees of the port of Aliagu, the owners of hotels are happy to take the furniture and equipment from cruise liners.
No one knows whether the cruise industry will be able to recover after the pandemic, and how long it will take.