How did these British cruise ships end up on the scrap heap in India?

Last summer the cruise industry began downsizing on an unprecedented scale in an attempt to stem declining revenues from fleets languishing in ports and anchorages around the world.

Telegraph Travel has previously reported on how the Grim Reaper was wielding his scythe on an armada of cruise ships for which the hourglass has emptied prematurely. 

A recent investigation by the BBC’s File on 4 programme has revealed that when it comes to scrapping a cruise ship, codes of conduct and protocols lie deep in murky waters. With opportunities to enhance their value, virtually overnight, the routes the ships take on their way to the scrapyard are worthy of an episode of Only Fools and Horses. 

Most cruise ships take their final bow at the killing beaches of Pakistan and Bangladesh. In recent months Aliaga near Izmir in Turkey has been the knackers’ yard of choice for many cruise ships still in their prime. For a variety of reasons, the chart-topper when it comes to ship-breaking is Alang on the Gulf of Cambay in India. 

The untimely demise of Cruise Maritime Voyages in July sent a shockwave through the industry. Creditors of the line, popular with Britons, petitioned the High Court, which ordered the sale of five of CMV’s vessels by sealed-bid auction to settle debts. Few ships were more popular for lovers of cut-price cruises than CMV’s Marco Polo and Magellan which were sold in November.