Sovereign Has Been Beached

[Jjohnb]

They beached the Sovereign this morning close to the Monarch in Aliaga, Turkey to begin scrapping her

The first modern cruise ships will be missed.

[coneyraven]

Here's a photo of Monarch and Sovereign together one last time.

[Jmccaffrey]

so Sad

[monctonguy]

Hard to believe and hard to see for sure....

[bobroo]

How many people think we should buy a Monarch lifeboat for Matt to create a RCBlog studio/office/YouTube broadcast booth?

Or, should it just be the furnishings from one of the pool bars?

[mook1525]

This is so sad.

[SteveinSC]

37 minutes ago, bobroo said:

 

Or, should it just be the furnishings from one of the pool bars?

Sovereign will always hold a special place in my heart. This is sad. 

Growing up, my grandpa had the bow of a boat as his bar in the basement.  I always thought it was the coolest dang thing ever.  He also had a tap, always on a keg of Busch and we would sneak some sips of it out of the clean ashtrays while looking at his Playboys...lol. But thats another story......

[RBRSKI]

It was so hard to watch the video of it running a ground!    

[coneyraven]

8 minutes ago, RBRSKI said:

It was so hard to watch the video of it running a ground!    

Yeah, that was Monarch ..... and them applauding as it stopped ---- then you hear the words "Turn the engines off"

[coneyraven]

Apparently, over at the Majesty of the Seas Group Page on Facebook, there's a video from the bridge of Sovereign as they were running it aground too.

[SandyW]

On 7/23/2020 at 8:08 AM, coneyraven said:

Here's a photo of Monarch and Sovereign together one last time.

I have been on both, Sovereign in 1995 and Monarch in 2008.

Sad to see this happen.

[Morganno]

I wasn't on either of these ships but to see them beach because of this virus is heartbreaking.

Just thinking there must be so much kit on them that can be recycled.

 

 

[coneyraven]

Here they are with the Carnival Fantasy that was just beached.

[coneyraven]

That was fast ..... the Bow has been removed from Sovereign.

[Jjohnb]

1 hour ago, coneyraven said:

That was fast ..... the Bow has been removed from Sovereign.

Very sad, there was so much pomp and circumstance when Sovereign was built and first sailed into Miami as the first purpose built mega-cruise ship.  She was the first ship of the modern cruise era.  Such an unfitting end.

 

[rjac]

Yes, it is sad. But there is a bright side in the salvage and recycling process. The Sovereign will come back to life in other cruise ships. 

[coneyraven]

It looks like they cut a pair of holes in the front .... right around Deck 7 or 8 I would say.  Interesting ...

[SpeedNoodles]

19 minutes ago, crisgold52 said:

I'm surprised the ships are being scrapped in a Turkey. Normally Alang India is the place as that scrap yard handles numerous ships per year and many cruise ships have been broken down there.

The answer to this issue is in this podcast by Doug Parker.

https://cruiseradio.net/cruise-podcast-ship-scrapping-process-with-peter-knego/

[DDaley]

Sovereign was my first cruise in 1998! I loved sail away.. I remember there were people down on the dock waving at our departure like an old school sailing vessel.

[coneyraven]

Wow --- talk about a tight squeeze ..... they just jammed the Inspiration between Sovereign and Fantasy.  You get a better view of Sovereign with the bow removed.

[YOLO]

3 minutes ago, coneyraven said:

Wow --- talk about a tight squeeze ..... they just jammed the Inspiration between Sovereign and Fantasy.  You get a better view of Sovereign with the bow removed.

Seems like they are trying to out do themselves now!  That is crazy tight!  Good thing they don't have to open a side door to get out...

[Ogilthorpe]

22 minutes ago, coneyraven said:

Wow --- talk about a tight squeeze ..... they just jammed the Inspiration between Sovereign and Fantasy.  You get a better view of Sovereign with the bow removed.

When I saw this picture ... i could only think of the Carnival Glory and Legend circa December 2019

[coneyraven]

29 minutes ago, Ogilthorpe said:

When I saw this picture ... i could only think of the Carnival Glory and Legend circa December 2019

Can't blame this one on the wind ..... that was crazy, I can still remember how close the Glory came to hitting Oasis.

[Jaime]

 

[Jaime]

 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

3 hours ago, Jaime said:

 

All I can say is "OUCH!!!!"  

[coneyraven]

They are ripping Sovereign apart faster than I could've imagined

[coneyraven]

Here's a cut-away showing the progress on Sovereign .... depressing for those that have sailed her.  Almost all of the Half Deck (Deck 6) is gone.  The photo of all 4 ships is about a week old.

[twangster]

They need to make room.  At this moment Empress and Majesty are at a dock in Souda.  A local newspaper report quotes the Port as saying they are transferring equipment between ships as one will be withdrawn.  

[FManke]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

They need to make room.  At this moment Empress and Majesty are at a dock in Souda.  A local newspaper report quotes the Port as saying they are transferring equipment between ships as one will be withdrawn.  

Downsizing seems to be the name of the game these crazy days with everything. 

[cruisellama]

Anyone know if they sell off the life boat/tenders or re-use them on other ships?   Could be repurposed into a small house boat recreational purposes.

[twangster]

29 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

Anyone know if they sell off the life boat/tenders or re-use them on other ships?   Could be repurposed into a small house boat recreational purposes.

Not sure.  Lifeboats can be very specific to the SOLAS plan approved for that ship.  Borrowing one that is completely different may have complications.  With only Majesty sailing it's not clear how big a market there would be for a 20 year old lifeboat.  They aren't the most driveable vessels, in fact if you watch the lifeboat drills it's like they've been drinking.  They get the job done in an emergency but I'm not sure there is a line of recreational boaters lining up to buy one.

[coneyraven]

Updated as of today.

[The Cruise Junkie]

3 hours ago, twangster said:

They need to make room.  

They sure do! The Pullmantur horizon and Carnival imagination that are set for there too have not yet been beached there as there is no room.

[cruisellama]

56 minutes ago, twangster said:

Not sure.  Lifeboats can be very specific to the SOLAS plan approved for that ship.  Borrowing one that is completely different may have complications.  With only Majesty sailing it's not clear how big a market there would be for a 20 year old lifeboat.  They aren't the most driveable vessels, in fact if you watch the lifeboat drills it's like they've been drinking.  They get the job done in an emergency but I'm not sure there is a line of recreational boaters lining up to buy one.

Seems like a better project platform than a oil drum raft with an outboard.   Could be a fun project, but would cost more to relocate the thing than its worth.

[twangster]

5 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

Seems like a better project platform than a oil drum raft with an outboard.   Could be a fun project, but would cost more to relocate the thing than its worth.

Transatlantic in a lifeboat.  Could make a reality TV show from it.  

[coneyraven]

 

[Oliver]

These videos are interesting, but I don’t find them sad. Nothing lasts forever. Airlines buy new planes, everyone buys new cars every 8-10 years depending on your preference. Same with ships. 

[cruisellama]

On 7/23/2020 at 9:48 AM, coneyraven said:

Yeah, that was Monarch ..... and them applauding as it stopped ---- then you hear the words "Turn the engines off"

The captains probably bet on who can drive the ship up on the shore the farthest

[Greg787]

On 9/10/2020 at 1:08 PM, twangster said:

Not sure.  Lifeboats can be very specific to the SOLAS plan approved for that ship.  Borrowing one that is completely different may have complications.  With only Majesty sailing it's not clear how big a market there would be for a 20 year old lifeboat.  They aren't the most driveable vessels, in fact if you watch the lifeboat drills it's like they've been drinking.  They get the job done in an emergency but I'm not sure there is a line of recreational boaters lining up to buy one.

So what they'll do is the yard will sell them to a reseller that will then scrap it for parts. They will then resell the parts that are in high in demand. The same thing happens with the bridge electronics. 

There's alot of old mechanical and electrical equipment out there. Shipowners will rather buy second hand spare parts than buy brand new complete systems.