RAJKOT: Hundreds of miles away from the mainland, these swanky ships have added zest to the life of sea travellers for years. But these cruise lines are now headed for Alang, one of the biggest graveyards of ships, as Covid-19 induced lockdowns sank the global tourism industry.
For the first time in Alang’s four-decades history, as many as eight cruise ships are set to be dismantled in the recycling yard this year.
The luxurious passenger cabins, lounges, ballrooms, swimming pools, bars, sunbathing decks and restaurants are all set to be scrapped.
According to the ship breakers, five ships have already beached near Alang and three more are expected to arrive by the end of March.
Alang used to get barely two cruise lines for breaking every year. But it has become difficult for ship owners to sustain business due to the pandemic-induced recession, so dismantling the vessels is the only option,” said Haresh Parmar, joint secretary of Alang Ship Recyclers Association.
In fact, only one passenger ship each came to Alang in 2018-19 and 2019-20, but three came just between December 26, 2020 and January 26, 2021.
MN Karnika, the biggest luxury cruise ship of Jalesh Cruises, anchored in Alang last November and waiting for permission for beaching. The dismantling is expected to begin in the next two months.
Mukesh Patel, chairman of Shree Ram Group, which won the bid to dismantle India’s iconic warship INS Virat, “Karnika is anchored 4,000 foot away from the plot. It will take nearly 60 days to dismantle it.”
This ship initially sailed between Mumbai to Goa and had a passenger capacity of 2,000 besides 600 crew members.
It had 837 staterooms, eight dining venues, two swimming pools and other facilities.
Industry sources said the American and European countries have the highest number of cruise ships and they are most affected by Covid-19 pandemic.
“More and more cruise liners are preferring to get scrapped to repay their debt,” Parmar added.