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Old 06-20-22, 03:27 PM   #1
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Default Largest cruise ship in the world: from the shipyard directly to the scrapyard

The "Global Dream II" was supposed to be the largest cruise ship in the world. But then the MV shipyards went bankrupt. Now it is clear that the half-finished giant ship cannot be saved. From the shipyard it goes straight to the scrapyard.

9500 passengers should have sailed the oceans on the "Global Dream II". No other cruise ship has ever reached such a size. The Hong Kong company Star Cruises ordered two of these giant cruisers from MV Werften in Germany in 2016. In 2018, construction of the "Global Dream" began in Warnemünde and later continued in Wismar in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In 2019, construction of the "Global Dream II" started in Schleswig-Holstein. Neither cruise ship has been completed to date.

But then came the corona pandemic. Because cruise operators were particularly affected by the lockdowns, work on the two "Global Dreams" was put on hold in 2020. Neither ship has emerged from this stage to date. On January 10 of this year, MV Werften had to file for insolvency. Even the parent company Genting Group from Malaysia could no longer prevent this. It also has to liquidate its subsidiary Genting Hong Kong, which operates the Star Cruises cruise line.

While the "Global Dream" in Wismar is already three-quarters complete and construction is scheduled for completion, the insolvency means the end for the "Global Dream II." As the insolvency administrator Christoph Morgen recently announced at a press conference, the ship cannot be saved. It has been in dry dock in Warnemünde for three years.

Construction is also well advanced here. The complete hull is already finished, the engines are installed, and some other basic equipment is also in place. While Morgen will try to sell the machinery and equipment, the hull will be sold off. The insolvency administrator hopes to be able to turn the steel colossus into cash piece by piece as scrap metal.

Until recently, there had been only one real interested party: The family-owned company Stena from Sweden, which already owns cargo ships and ferries, wanted to buy two more ships from Genting in addition to the "Global Dream II" and thus establish a new cruise line in Asia. However, the plans burst at the end of May when Genting owner Lim Kok Thay announced the establishment of his own new cruise brand in Singapore. Moreover, it remains uncertain when cruises in Asia will be profitable again at all. As long as corona lockdowns continue to prevail in China and ports are affected, the investment is hardly worthwhile. Cruises through the South China Sea are also becoming increasingly uncertain because China is engaged in territorial disputes with its neighbors there.

The problem is that the Global Dream II would not be able to sail in other parts of the world. For operations in Europe or North America, cabins, decks and engines would have to be completely rebuilt. This would not be financially viable for an investor.

However, the "Global Dream", which is docked in Wismar, cannot continue to be built there either. The facility has been bought by ThyssenKrupp. The Duisburg-based company plans to build military ships there from 2024. For this, the dock must be cleared by the end of 2023. But since the "Global Dream" is buoyant, a buyer could bring it to any other dock in the world with a tugboat and finish it there. So far, however, there is no investor in sight for the second giant cruiser either. However, insolvency administrator Morgen has a little more time here to broker deals. A purchase would not be cheap. The state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania had secured loans from MV Werften with guarantees. After the company went bankrupt, the state government now wants to recover the money.

Morgen has a few weeks to find a buyer for the Global Dream. If that does not succeed, an open auction will begin in which scrap dealers will also be allowed to bid. In the worst case, the "Global Dream" would then meet the same fate as the "Global Dream II".

The cruise industry is still reeling after two years of pandemic. The two world market leaders Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises of the U.S. are still posting stock market losses of 71 and 54 percent, respectively, compared to their pre-pandemic levels. Star Cruises from Hong Kong was the third largest provider, but its parent company has now filed for insolvency, as already mentioned.





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Not only is this eocnomically monstrous. I also wonder what use it has to book a shiptour on a floating city where you cannot get any feel of a moving ship at all. When I board a ship for "fun", then I want to actually feel that it is a ship exposed to win, waves, wetaher, and sea. Else I could as well board a plane, doze off, wake up and deboard.
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Old 06-20-22, 03:39 PM   #2
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Some of these cruise companies will survive-while others will sink.

About cruise-I have this dream and it shall be on a smaller cruise ship not a huge monster.

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Old 06-20-22, 08:56 PM   #3
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While it may come as a surprise to some some ships have actually been sent from builders to scrap in the past more notably oil tankers as its cheaper to just scrap them than lay them up.

Personally while the bigger cruise ships offer so many amenities you feel like your in a mass resort when on board and it really takes away the experience of being at sea, I do much prefer the smaller ships and indeed the older ones like MV Astoria as they have the last vestiges of history and character.
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Old 06-21-22, 05:41 AM   #4
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My lad worked for Holland America (part of the Carnival Group) right up to the pandemic and was extremely fortunate to qualify for his Masters through them but 'enough is enough' (in his words) and he still maintains regular contact with some less fortunate than he has been,

He informs me it will be at least another couple of years before normality is restored, if ever at all.
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Old 06-23-22, 01:23 PM   #5
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Throughout history several people have learned, the hard way, that just because you can make something bigger does not mean you should.



There is an optimum size from not only an engineering viewpoint but from a business viewpoint.
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Old 06-25-22, 07:55 PM   #6
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Think we have no reached the pinnacle size for most classes of ships I cant see them any bigger than what they are today in the medium future.
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