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Every year, retired cruise ships and bulk carriers are sold to ship-breaking yards in Turkey and India where thousands of workers painstakingly cut up the massive vessels and sell their parts for scrap.

But some cruise ships survive the so-called “ship graveyard” and are converted into hotels, or even intentionally sunk to the bottom of the ocean in order to create artificial reefs.

Some of these ‘still sailable’ ships are even turned into makeshift hospitals, and have been operating in times of need all across the globe, for instance during the Covid pandemic, Hurricane Katrina, and more recently in support of the war in Ukraine.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, over 2,000 Ukrainian refugees lived on cruise ships docked off the coast of Scotland for months.

Perhaps the most well-known cases of converted cruise ships are the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth 2 hotels.

The original Queen Mary is no longer sailing the seven seas; these days she is docked at California’s Port of Long Beach as a floating hotel, offering the original 347 staterooms to travellers who want to still experience the majesty of a night on the ship.

Across the world in Dubai, the Queen Elizabeth 2 has been operating as a floating hotel as well. Before it permanently docked, the vessel sailed from 1967 to 2008, accommodating guests like singer Elton John and former US President George W Bush.

Some of these massive ships are not so lucky though. Retired bulk carriers have joined subway cars, decommissioned tugboats, trawlers, barges, and military armoured vehicles as artificial barrier reefs along the coast of Delaware in the US. This reef is known as “Redbird Reef”, with the only passengers and cargo they now hold fish and corals.

Unlike the Titanic, these underwater relics are easily accessible to divers as well.

“As we move closer to environmental decay and climate change, cities need to start coming up with solutions that are atypical. Taking decommissioned ships and not just using them for hospitality is something that should be happening now.”

Turning decommissioned ships into affordable housing could also be a win-win, according to a Washington-based architecture firm that explored the possibility in a 2022 Miami research study.

It’s good to know that these ships can be repurposed and not just be cut up – which seems rather sad.

Fortunately, the ships used by Berry & Donaldson to get your freight overseas are still in perfect condition, so rest assured that your cargo will arrive as planned. With a combined 100 years of experience in freight forwarding, customs, warehousing, and transport, they can get your shipping done more efficiently, no matter the destination.

[source:insider&berrydonaldson]