The "world’s largest" cruise ship worth £1.2billion and built to carry 9,000 passengers is set to be scrapped before its first ever voyage, unless it can find a last minute buyer.
The Global Dream II is a massive 20-deck, 342m long vessel and includes a massive outdoor waterpark and cinema.
But the humongous ship is now set to be turned to scrap metal before its maiden voyage.
It was built by German-Hong Kong firm MV Werften and its construction had nearly finished when the company filed for bankruptcy at the start of the year.
The ship cost a whopping £1.2billion to build - which was still £200million short of its budget - and has long been looking for a buyer to splash £900million on it to save it from the scrap heap.
Global Dream II would have been, in terms of passenger capacity, the largest cruise ship in the world.
The current record is held by the Royal Caribbean liner ‘Wonder of the Seas’ which can fit 6,988 passengers on board.
Despite all of this, a buyer for the ship was never found and according to German cruise industry magazine An Bord it is set to be dismantled and sold off.
The engines and some parts are up for sale but the lower hull is set to be auctioned off for scrap.
Whilst the Global Dream II is dead in the water, its sister liner, the first Global Dream ship, remains on the market and even though it hasn’t sold it reportedly isn’t set to be axed quite yet.
Both vessels are currently being stored at a German shipyard but even that has been sold off.
The administrator for MV Werften, Christoph Morgen, reportedly told a press conference that the company’s shipyard in Wismar, northern Germany, had been flogged off.
It was sold off to Thyssenkrupp, a German multinational conglomerate, who are going to use it to build military vessels.
This means that the two global dreams will have to be removed by the end of 2023, putting a countdown on them both.
Die Welt reported that whilst the second ship was structurally finished it needed some equipment and passenger facilities completed.
One of the major problems standing in the way of finding a buyer for the ships is that they were reportedly designed for the Asian cruise market, An Bord said.
This means that the ships would have to undergo major changes before being suitable for use in Europe or North America.
It would include overhauling the “cabin, deck and propulsion system”.
However, some are more optimistic that the expensive ships will still find a buyer in time.
Cruise ship experts TradeWinds reported that Stena, one of the largest cruise operators globally, retain an interest in snapping up the ship in the hopes it will boost its Chinese cruise operations.
TradeWinds said: “The Global Dream would have no problems finding a buyer in a strong cruise market.
“Faced with the tight deadline to get the Global Dream out of its building dock by the end of 2023, recycling the ship in Turkey is a last resort that Morgen hopes to avoid.”
Weighing a hefty 208,000 tonnes each the ships would be the joint sixth largest by size too, behind the Royal Caribbean’s five Oasis-class ships.
