Norwegian Cruise Lines ship abandons passengers on African island

Table Of Content

• Unfinished and unwanted 9,000-passenger cruise ship to be scrapped
• Stranded Mauritian cruise workers finally begin journey home
• Stay Inside
• Not a Normal Woman
• Woman 'took dead man's corpse into bank to sign off on four-figure loan to herself'
• Search
• Cruises, crowds and fragile ecosystems: the delicate dance of Antarctic tourism

“What we looked at was some type of van transportation for eight people, the quadriplegic woman included,” Jay Campbell told ABC15. He described having to take a ferry to get into Senegal, and then a four-hour drive. The travellers’ passports were returned to them via port authorities. The group, which reportedly includes two Australians, had to leave their medication, bank cards and other belongings on board. The Campbells said they were the only members of the group with a Visa card and had paid more than $5,000 in their attempts to reach the ship.

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Houthi rebels claim attack that forced UK crew to abandon ship in Red Sea.

Posted: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Unfinished and unwanted 9,000-passenger cruise ship to be scrapped

The group have now made their way by plane, ferry and car to Senegal, over 2,000 miles from São Tomé and Príncipe, where the Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) ship departed without them last Wednesday. However it never happened because of the company’s demise and instead the ship was sold off at auction for $1.7 million. In one bar, drinks still remain on tables while the seats are covered in sheets.

Stranded Mauritian cruise workers finally begin journey home

Our free, fast, and fun briefing on the global economy, delivered every weekday morning. Additionally, midnight buffets were surely wasteful when these grand events took place each night. Eliminating waste has also been one of the reasons for the midnight buffet to be phased out. The entire ambiance of the buffet would be transformed during the midnight buffet with more food than one could ever imagine.

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The Haunting Wreck of Cruise Ship "Mediterranean Sky" Near Athens - GreekReporter.com.

Posted: Fri, 08 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Stay Inside

Before it went to the scrapyard, a team of urban explorers captured some amazing snaps of the interior – giving some idea of the luxurious facilities passengers could enjoy onboard during life on the ship. By the time a ship is sailed to the Kılıçlar Ship Breaking Yard, the cruise line has decided that keeping it afloat isn't worth the money anymore — but that doesn't mean it doesn't have value. Ship-breaking yards buy the cruise ships as is and then take them apart piece by piece, selling whatever they can. In other cases, a cruise ship can be given a second life as a tourist attraction, hotel, or even a temporary hospital in emergency cases, Business Insider previously reported.

shipbreaking yards since 2009.

In other cases, disposing of a grounded cruise ship could pose serious environmental concerns. Nine passengers from a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship found out the hard way just what happens when you miss the departure time for your ship, after they were abandoned by the rest of their cruise. The group of stricken cruisers is now attempting to be reunited with the ship in a trans-African adventure. During this old tradition, passengers onboard a cruise ship could get onstage and perform pretty much anything they were brave enough to demonstrate to an audience. This could include singing, dancing, magic, comedy, or anything that a passenger felt was their talent.

Not a Normal Woman

A lucky few vessels were purchased by other operators, but most were sent to cruise graveyards after they were sold for scrap. "Any fuel that can be removed is used to help in the scrapping process (powering winches), burned off or sold for use on other ships." When this is complete, any remaining fuel is emptied, and interior fixtures, furnishings and other salvageable items are removed for resale before shipbreakers deconstruct the vessels for scrap using a variety of tools and machinery. At Alang, ships are either towed to the facility, which is located on the Gulf of Khambat, or sail there under their own power.

Woman 'took dead man's corpse into bank to sign off on four-figure loan to herself'

Jeff and Mike got a check from the governor so big that they decided to travel the world for a while. The frightening ordeal scarred them, but that didn't stop them from having other adventures. They lived the rest of their lives like there was no tomorrow and enjoyed every minute. Instead of arresting Jeff and Mike, they rewarded them for their bravery. It turned out that the woman they rescued was not a normal woman. She was the governor's daughter, and had been held hostage for a few days now.

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On Royal Caribbean’s ships built throughout the 1990s, these nightclubs each had their own name, such as The Crypt and The Labyrinth. Unsurprisingly, environmental concerns were raised about how long the golf balls stayed in the ocean. Unfortunately, most golf balls were not biodegradable and the ones that were more eco-friendly were quite expensive. By removing a section of the railing, guests were able to make the ocean their driving range. With a bucket of balls and a club, people were somehow harnessed to the ship so they couldn’t fall from the top deck where the railing was removed.

After much debate, it was determined that the ship would indeed be converted into a luxury hotel, which followed over a decade of abandonment in a very public location. In cases where a cruise ship capsized, even surfacing the ship can prove astronomically expensive and prohibitively difficult if the sinking occurred in an economically underprivileged region. In other words, local authorities and scrapping specialists could lack the capabilities to surface such a massive and heavy vessel.

Given how valuable full-size cruise ships are, regardless of their age and condition, you might wonder why they would ever sit abandoned rather than being taken for recycling at a ship scrapping yard. Eventually, this cruise ship activity was abandoned as more exciting things to do onboard emerged; eventually, the magic of hitting golf balls into the ocean was replaced with onboard golf simulators. When cruising had a more traditional approach, guests could dine at limited times and venues. With cruise ships having additional dining spots and food available nearly 24 hours at a time, the midnight budget is no longer needed for guests to get their late night snack. "Asbestos, which was largely banned in the '80s, was once the greatest concern," Knego said, when asked about the environmental implications of scrapping cruise ships.

Materials from a single ship can bring in around $4 million, Business Insider reported in 2021. It costs $60,000 per month to dock and maintain the SS United States, and despite continued interest in redeveloping her, the conservancy group had to start looking at the possibility of scrapping the iconic ocean liner. Crystal Cruises even got close to purchasing the ship to transform her, but that eventually fell through. The ship was sold at auction to a scrapping company as part of the administration process.

“The harbour master tried to call the ship, the captain refused the call,” Mr. Campbell told ABC 4 News South Carolina. “Weird that the captain wouldn’t let them board if it was still in port? The debacle has caused a huge divide online with some taking the side of the passengers, while others have defended the cruise’s move in leaving the passengers behind in São Tomé. The MS Astor had been playing host to holidaymakers since 1987, with the ship costing a massive £50 million when it was built in what was West Germany. But sending ships to a breaking facility also comes with costs that can make it less prudent for companies to, for example, retrieve a capsized ship, according to Cruise Hive.

Often, as in the case of Schettino, charges are brought based not on dereliction of maritime duty but for offenses that might pertain on land as well, such as negligence and manslaughter. After Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger crash-landed a flight in the Hudson River in 2009, he twice walked the plane to make sure no one was left onboard before leaving himself. The moment was immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as the "Birkenhead drill." Reinforced when Capt. Edward Smith went down with the Titanic, the notion that a captain must stay with his ship became part of folklore. "I can't lift my face before the passengers and family members of those missing," Lee told reporters.

What was once the ‘cannot be missed’ activity onboard each day, midnight buffets had extravagant displays of food, fondue, ice carvings, chocolate and more. This abandoned activity hasn't been seen on a cruise ship in many years, much to the dismay of longtime cruisers. When visiting Koh Chang back in 2017 we knew we’d come back eventually! A spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Lines said it was a “very unfortunate situation” and that it was the passenger’s responsibility to be back on board the ship no later than one hour before the ship’s scheduled departure time. They aimed to reboard the Norwegian Dawn in the Gambia the following Sunday but low tides prevented the ship from making the scheduled stop.

That's why cruise ships are rarely outright abandoned if they're ever decommissioned or retired due to the ship's age or, in some cases, catastrophic disasters. There are also strict environmental precautions that must be taken to avoid the leaking of fuel and other toxic chemicals that could pollute the water and cause harm to marine life. Although scrapyards attempt to follow local regulations, there's still quite a bit of contamination that can happen throughout the scrapping lifecycle. The tear-down process is arduous at first, as it involves removing leftover fuel and stripping the ships of any furnishings and fixtures — even toilets — that can be salvaged and sold. Once deconstruction is fully underway, shipbreakers can take a vessel down to just its hull with shocking speed, with scrap metal being sold or recycled.

Although we couldn’t enter the Galaxy cruise ship itself, we’d still found this place super fascinating. Either way, the cruise liner ended up on Koh Chang and just a few years back you could actually stay on this ship-o-tel during your visit to this island! According to other blog posts a room would have cost you just 20 EUR / night. While we share in our guests’ disappointment, this modification was made with great consideration for their safety and that of our crew, which is our top priority. We contacted these eight guests regarding this itinerary adjustment and provided them with authorization to rejoin the ship at Dakar, Senegal on April 2, 2024. Eight cruise passengers had to scramble to reunite with their cruise ship after being left behind in São Tomé and Príncipe.