Royal Caribbean Group sailed a 30-year-old cruiseship to Malta, raising speculation that it may be headed to Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping.
But the cruise giant declined to confirm or deny any rumours of a sale of the 2,020-berth Empress of the Seas (built 1990).
The ship, which was refit for a second time in 2019, left its home port of Miami, Florida, on or around 19 May and arrived in Southampton, England, in mid-June, according to VesselsValue.
The ship is currently heading south just outside the Bay of Biscay and is expected to arrive in Malta's port of Valletta on 9 August.
Its AIS shows a heading for the Maltese village of Marsaxlokk, which happens to be the last stop for the 73,500-gt Sovereign (built 1987) and 47,400-gt Horizon (built 1990) before reaching Aliaga two weeks ago for scrapping.
These two ships were last operated by Pullmantur Cruises, a Spanish cruise outfit owned by Royal Caribbean and Cruise Investment Holdings that filed for reorganisation in late June.
Further, sources with knowledge of the matter have told TradeWinds that Empress of the Seas' VHF radio communications revealed that the ship was on its way to Greece, Turkey's western neighbour.
Royal Caribbean said it regularly sends its ships to various locations around the globe to attain best services but did not comment specifically on Empress of the Seas.
"We are constantly looking for the best places to deploy our ships in order to get all the ship services we require for operations, such as provisions and fuel," spokesman Jonathon Fishman told TradeWinds.
"As such, it is normal that we move the ships from ports to ports based on our most efficient operations based on availability and price."
A cruiseship owner's decision to scrap one or more ships would come as no surprise, as most outfits try to survive unprecedented losses amid Covid-19 disruption.
Carnival Corp late last month sold Costa Cruises' 75,200-gt Costa Victoria (built 1996) to Italy’s San Giorgio del Porto Shipyard for scrapping.
The Arnold Donald juggernaut also plans to divest another 14 ships in an effort to streamline the company as it navigates the challenges brought on by the pandemic.
