Global Dream II, one of the world’s biggest cruise ships of all time, is at risk of being sold off for scrap before even setting off on its maiden voyage.
The one billion pound worth cruise ship, which would have been able to transport over nine thousand people, has, thus far, cost 1.2 billion pounds to build but is still 200 million pounds short on budget before construction is completed.
Construction on the ship was nearly completed when MV Werften, a German-Hong Kong shipbuilder company, filed for bankruptcy in early 2022.
Thus far, a buyer is yet to be found for the 1,122 foot and twenty-deck ship, which features a deluxe onboard cinema boasting an outdoor waterpark. This might lead to the cruise ship being scrapped.
More work is still pending on some equipment and passenger facilities although, physically, everything seems in order.
Shipping industry experts, TradeWinds, said the Global Dream II “would have no problems finding a buyer in a strong cruise market.”
“Faced with the tight deadline to get [it] out of its building dock by the end of 2023,” TradeWinds said, recycling the ship in Turkey is the last resort that Morgen hopes to avoid.
Largest cruise ships on the line for sale
Global Dream II together with another giant sister line ship, Global Dream, which is also on the market but is not currently due to be axed, is being stored at a shipyard in Wismar, Germany while the company searches for a buyer.
MV Werften administrator Christoph Morgen said the Wismar shipyard has been sold to Thyssenkrupp’s naval unit to build military vessels.
This implies that the two giant cruise ships will have to be out of the yard by 2023, meaning the company is up against the clock.
With Stena potentially interested in buying Global Dream II for the Chinese cruise market, there is still some hope for the world’s largest cruise ship.
However, it must be noted that cruise operators have been struck by the COVID-19 pandemic along with the rest of the global travel industry.
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