The world’s largest cruise ship ‘Global Dream II’ will be scrapped before it makes its debut at sea. Built by MV Werften for the cruise between Germany and Hong Kong, it was due to be completed in early 2022 when the company went bankrupt. Since then, no buyer has been found, so a massive 20-story ship has been built. Sold for nothing. Its ‘twin ship’, the ‘Global Dream’, is on the market but not yet to be scrapped, the ‘Daily Mail’ assured this Thursday.
The 1,122-foot (341-metre) ‘Global Dream II’ will include a cinema and outdoor water park and will have the largest passenger capacity of any cruise ship in the world – it can carry 9,000 passengers and cost €1.39 billion. will be built – and yet, despite the large budget, there was still 232 million euros under budget. Owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International, the Oasis-class ‘Wonder of the Seas’ is the largest ship, measuring 362 meters and having a capacity of 6,988 passengers.
According to German magazine ‘On Board’, the engines and parts are to be sold, while the lower hull will be sold for scrap.
Both ‘Global Dream’ and ‘Global Dream II’ were stored at a German shipyard in Wismar and were later sold to Thyssenkrupp’s naval division for the construction of military vessels, so the two massive cruise ships were to be scrapped. By the end of 2023, MV Werften’s executive Christoph Morgan revealed this Thursday. Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems bought the shipyard as part of its plan to expand operations in Germany’s defense sector, which has been primarily affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Although the ‘Global Dream II’ is structurally sound, the equipment and facilities for passengers need to be completed. There is still hope to find a buyer, especially in the Chinese market. “The ‘Global Dream’ will have no problem finding a buyer in a strong shipping market. But recycling the ship in Turkey is a last resort as it faces a tight deadline to decommission the ship by the end of 2023,” assured ‘Trade Winds’ experts.
Genting, led by Malaysian president Tan Sri Lim Kok Tai, acquired MV Werfton in 2016. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the global travel industry, including cruise operators, leading to production shutdowns at shipyards. MV Werften currently employs around 2,000 people in the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
