Scrapyard

mickig · March 11, 2006

There's an article in the Jan/Feb cruise travel magazine about where 'old ships go to die' (where they are scrapped out) :sad: One of our favorite ships Commadore's Enchanted Isle (now called the Argentina) is in the background in one of the pictures with part of her hull missing! It's just too sad.

Shari2 · March 11, 2006

It is very sad what happens to some of the great old ships. At least one of the older ships I sailed on sunk on the way to be scrapped... from what I heard. Very sad!

Mebert · March 11, 2006

It is very sad about the old ships and the nostalgia that they offer but businesses today have to cater to modern amenities to be profitable. It is too bad that a more noble role can't be found to give these old ships some sort of use.

I remember wonder visits to the USS Alabama and the submarine dry docked right next to it. The Alabama was a war ship. I think I would equally enjoy visiting a cruise ship museum.

I wonder how costly that would be.

mickig · March 11, 2006

The SeaBreeze,a Dolphin...then premier ship,which we sailed on, was sunk . Rumor was that they were running away to keep the boat from being taken by the bank or whatever and hit a bad storm. The skeleton crew was rescued. Sounds like they sunk it themselves really. We sailed on it with my inlaws,both are now gone, but we have wonderful memories from that cruise.

Lisa63 · March 12, 2006

mickig, SS SeaBreeze was my favorite ship. We sailed her twice, and were scheduled to go a third time but the line went out of business one day prior. Just two days before she sank, I saw her in Boston -- she made a quick stopover. I may even have the last photo of her taken before her incident. Two days later, she was gone. I remember thinking, "'At a girl -- no one's going to turn you into scrap metal."

Mebert, there have been rumors of SS United States being turned into a liner museum highlighting US-built ships, but it's just a rumor. I doubt it could be successful, as much as I love the idea. One only has to look as far as Queen Mary to see the prospects. :undecided:

DaCruzNut · March 12, 2006

The saddest photos I ever saw were those of the Britanis, my favorite ship, going under while being towed to the scrap yard. I had sailed on her 12 times, and have never enjoyed any cruises more...

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Mebert · March 12, 2006

Lisa63,

I hope something converting the SS United States into a museum. I would certainly visit it.

The Queen Mary seems to be working. I'm surprised there aren't more ship hotels like that.

DaCruzNut,

What a frightening picture. The Britanis was a floating ship. What could have happened?

DaCruzNut · March 12, 2006

Lisa, what they say happened was that rough seas caused her to capsize, and sink However, the same thing happened to the Sea Breeze, and several others. They were sold for scrap and towed across the Atlantic, when they suddenly sank.. The owners got the insurance money, a lot more than the price they'd get for scrap. Do you see a pattern here???

spence · March 13, 2006

You could always break out the checkbook and try to do it better than RCCL

http://shipexpo.com/sales/vessel_detail.asp?FileNo=2522

Joanandjoe · March 13, 2006

It's sad to see ships being scrapped, but what's the alternative? NCL took over the France and renamed it the Noway; but it has been scrapped after the tragic fire. NCL also owns the hulks of the United States and another old U.S. Lines ship (the Constitution?), but found it too costly to refurbish them. Of the really old (more than 30 years) ocean liners, only the Regal Empress seems to be sailing into the future.