Unsuccessful: $7 Billion Cruise Ship Will Be Dismantled Without Even Completing Its Maiden Voyage. Builder Declares Bankruptcy

The Company That Owns the Luxury Cruise Ship Filed for Bankruptcy Earlier This Year After Failing to Find a Buyer for the Vessel Valued at R$ 7.2 Billion

In Germany, one of the largest cruise ships in the world is sitting at a shipyard because the bankruptcy managers cannot find a buyer for the luxury vessel valued at £ 1.2 billion (R$ 7.2 billion). The cruise ship, which is 349 meters long, features 20 decks and has a luxury cinema onboard and an outdoor water park as one of its main attractions, is unfinished and will be dismantled before even making its maiden voyage.

Learn What Lies Behind the Dismantling of the Cruise Ship

According to the specialized magazine An Bord, the lower hull of the ship known as Global Dream II, the second global-class ship from the insolvent MV Werften shipyard on the Baltic coast of Germany, will have to be scrapped. The goal of the German company MV Werften is to sell parts of the vessel, machinery, and equipment. Up to 9,000 passengers can be accommodated on the Global Dream II.

In January 2022, MV Werften filed for bankruptcy just as the construction of the cruise ship Global Dream II was nearing completion. The ship is structurally sound, but the passenger facilities need finishing. The company sought salvation from scrapping by looking for an investor willing to pay £ 900 million for the ship, but so far no buyer for the vessel has been found.

The cruise ship was not designed to carry military resources and weaponry, and therefore must be dismantled, with its more than 260,000 tons being removed from the marina and sold as scrap.

The Global Dream can be towed from MV Werften to anywhere in the world by ocean tugboats, as its facilities have been sold to a naval unit in Germany. If no buyer is found in the coming weeks, a bidding process will be initiated, allowing ship brokers with contacts in maritime scrap yards to submit their offers.

The greatest hope of finding a buyer lies in the Chinese market. TradeWinds experts stated that the Global Dream II would have no issues finding a buyer in a strong cruise ship market. However, with the short timeframe to remove the ship from the yard – by the end of 2023 – recycling the ship in Turkey will be the last resort.

What Are the Characteristics of the Global Dream II?

The Global Dream II, which is to be dismantled, has the capacity to accommodate 9,000 people, measures 349 meters in length, 46.4 meters in width, and has a draft of 9.5 meters – the submerged part of the ship. It began construction on September 10, 2019, in Rostock, Germany. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the facilities were temporarily closed, causing delays in the ship’s completion. Six months after MV Werften’s bankruptcy announcement in June 2022, it was announced that the Global Dream II would be sold as scrap. Its construction was a partnership between the German company MV Werften and Hong Kong.

The Daily Mail reported last Thursday (8) that the twin ship of the Global Dream II, the Global Dream, is also on the market but is not expected to be scrapped.

The administrator of MV Werften, Christoph Morgen, revealed last Thursday (8) that both the ‘Global Dream’ and the ‘Global Dream II’, which are stored in a German shipyard in Wismar, must be removed from the location by the end of 2023, as this shipyard was sold to a naval unit of Thyssenkrupp for the construction of military ships.

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems decided to purchase the shipyard in order to expand operations into Germany’s defense industry, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.