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FRANK GONZALEZ The 32-year-old cruise liner was built at Saint-Nazaire in France. The ship could carry as many as 1,855 passengers and a crew of 700.
MV Columbus is the latest one to arrive at Alang this week. The 32-year-old cruise liner was built at Saint-Nazaire in France. The ship could carry as many as 1,855 passengers and a crew of 700.
A senior official from Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) was quoted in an IE report, saying that the cruise vessel was bought by NBM Iron and Steel Trading Private Limited, a shipbreaker at Alang.
According to Nazir Kaliwala of NBM Iron and Steel Trading, not many cruise ships are being sold as scrap at the moment. Though due to the current situation, the cruise industry has not yet opened up, the cruise ships’ owners are hesitant to sell as it is a huge loss.
The ones who are suffering from mounting overheads or bank loans or losses end up selling their ships for scrap. The ones who are able to sustain, have continued to hold on to their ships in the hope that later this year, the cruise industry will revive, Kaliwala added.
MV Columbus, in later part of its journeys, was the flagship of CMV-Cruise Maritime Voyages, now defunct and operated out of homeport in Tilbury-London, the United Kingdom. In the year 2020, it was auctioned and was later bought by Cyprus-based shipping firm Seajets, which sold it for scrap.
Developed in the year 1989, the cruise liner has 11 passenger decks out of a total of 13 with two swimming pools, four restaurants, eight bars, two Jacuzzis and as many as 12 elevators. Its last refurbishing was done in 2017.