Keeping up with a trend that started in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, several older and smaller cruise ships continue to be sold for scrapping in 2022.
With 15 vessels beached so far, the year is setting a new record for the cruise ship breaking yards.
According to the latest edition of the Cruise Ship Second Hand Market Report by Cruise Industry News, the pandemic has brought unprecedented numbers for the recycling business.
With the first ships being sold for dismantling just a few months after the health crisis was declared, 2020 saw a total of nine ships beached for scrapping.
2021 followed closely with a total of 11 vessels sent to the recycling yards.
By contrast,in 2019, just a single cruise ship was beached..
The average age of the scrapped ships was 38 in 2022, compared to 43 between 2017 and 2019.
After growing back to 41 years in 2021, the median age went down once more in 2022, reaching 38 years.
