Photos: Cruise ship dismantling booms in Turkey after pandemic scuttles sector

Vessels were home to the some of the earliest clusters as the pandemic spread globally

Published: October 03, 2020 08:13 Reuters and Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor

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Aliaga, Turkey: Business is booming at a sea dock in western Turkey, where five hulking cruise ships are being dismantled for scrap metal sales after the COVID-19 pandemic all but destroyed the industry, the head of a ship recyclers' group said on Friday. Image Credit: Reuters

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Cruise ships were home to the some of the earliest clusters of COVID-19 as the pandemic spread globally early this year. In March, US authorities issued a no-sail order for all cruise ships that remains in place. Image Credit: Reuters

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On Friday, dozens of workers stripped walls, windows, floors and railings from several vessels in the dock in Aliaga, a town 45 km north of Izmir on Turkey's west coast. Three more ships are set to join those already being dismantled. Image Credit: Reuters

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Before the pandemic, Turkey's ship-breaking yards typically handled cargo and container ships, said Kamil Onal, chairman of a ship recycling industrialists' association. Image Credit: Reuters

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"But after the pandemic, cruise ships changed course towards Aliaga in a very significant way," he said of the town. "There was growth in the sector due to the crisis. Image Credit: Reuters

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When the ships couldn't find work, they turned to dismantling." Onal said some 2,500 people worked at the yard in teams that take around six months to dismantle a full passenger ship. The vessels arrived from Britain, Italy and the United States. Image Credit: Reuters

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The shipyard aims to increase the volume of dismantled steel to 1.1 million tonnes by the end of the year, from 700,000 tonnes in January, he said. "We are trying to change the crisis into an opportunity," he said. Image Credit: Reuters

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Even the ships' non-metal fittings do not go to waste as hotel operators have come to the yard to buy useful materials, he added. Image Credit: Reuters

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A drone image shows decommissioned cruise ships being dismantled at Aliaga ship-breaking yard in the Aegean port city of Izmir. Image Credit: Reuters

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Image Credit: Reuters

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