What was supposed to be one of the world’s largest cruise ships may never sail because it is being scrapped.
Global Dream II, which was planned to carry over 9,000 passengers, was nearly finished at a shipyard on Germany’s Baltic coast. However, the shipbuilder MV Werften declared bankruptcy in January 2022, and the administrators have been unable to find a buyer for Global Dream II.
Since there were no buyers, the company must discard the boat. According to the German cruise industry publication An Bord, the liner’s lower hull will be scrapped.
According to the administrator, Christoph Morgen, who spoke at a press conference on Friday, the ship needed to be moved out of MV Werften’s Wismar shipyard by the end of the year because the yard had been sold to Thyssenkrupp’s naval unit, which plans to build military vessels there.
When completed, Global Dream II and its sister ship Global Dream – which is not being scrapped for the time being – would have been the world’s largest cruise ships by passenger capacity.
At 208,000 tons, they would have become the sixth largest cruise ships in terms of size, trailing only Royal Caribbean’s five Oasis-class ships.
Demand for cruise ships has declined since the coronavirus pandemic. Before COVID-19, oassenger ships were a major tourist attraction, however, they turned into a nightmare in the early days of the pandemic with various covid-related limitations, lockdowns, and insufficient resources.
As a result, stocks tumbled, and companies like MV Werften are trying to re-enter the cruise market ever since.
Still, if the industry is looking for a saving grace, Global Dream I is apparently spared from the scrapyard.