Caribbean cruise operator Adriana Shipping has quietly exited the market by selling its only cruiseship for scrapping in Turkey.
The 4,500-gt Adriana (built 1972) departed Trinidad last week for the Turkish shiprecycling centre of Aliaga.
Reportedly fronted by Russian business interests, Adriana Shipping has run the vessel for nine years in the Caribbean and the Black Sea. Operators during this period have been Tropicana Cruises, West Indies Cruises and Adriana Cruises.
It last worked out of Trinidad in 2017, and has spent the intervening period in lay-up awaiting a new buyer.
The ship has a colourful history, beginning with being the first oceangoing cruiseship to be built in Greece. It remains the only cruiseship of any notable size to have been built from scratch in that country.
The ship was ordered from the long-closed United Shipyard near Piraeus by Greek shipping company Hellenic Mediterranean Lines, one of the pioneers of Greek passenger shipping that has since also gone out of business.
After more than two decades of Greek ownership, it was sold to Croatia’s Jadrolinija for German charter cruising before being sold to Italian interests for operation by Plein Cap of France.
Under Tropicana Cruises, it was one of the first cruiseships to operate out of Cuba.
Adriana Shipping could not be reached for comment.
