This year has been tough for the world’s biggest yachts. Earlier this month, Rotterdam said it wouldn’t take apart a bridge to let Jeff Bezos sail his new 417-foot mega sailing yacht out of the shipyard. Now plans have been scrapped for converting a 539-foot cruise ship into a private yacht.
The yacht in question is the Pearl II, a passenger ship that was built in Germany in 1981. The ship was built in 1981 by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Hamburg. It was originally ordered by the German company Hadag Cruise Line, but was sold to the South African company Safmarine because it wasn’t profitable enough.
In 1985, it was sold to East Germany and renamed the Arkona. The vessel was used to give favoured communist party officials cruises for part of the year. The rest of the year, it was chartered to western operators. After the fall of the Berlin Wall she bounced around several cruise lines until 2019 when she was sold to Aqua Explorer Holdings, renamed the Pearl II, and sailed to the Greek port of Perama.
2013 Photo of the Pearl II by Ivan T. via Wikipedia
“Whomever was behind Aqua Explorer has never commented on their plans,” writes Jonathan Boonzaier for Tradewinds. “But it quickly became known in the cruise and yachting sectors that the company was controlled by wealthy Saudi Arabian interests, via Greek intermediaries, who intended to convert the Pearl II into an ultra-large private yacht.”
If she were to be converted into a private yacht, she would be the world’s second largest, after the 531-foot Azzam that was launched in 2013 and delivered to Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the former president of the United Arab Emirates.
The Pearl II has been sold to a ship recycling firm in Turkey.
Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise company, has finalized an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for the construction of three new cruise ships. Scheduled for delivery in the...
Disney and Oriental Land Co., Ltd. (OLC) have announced a new agreement to bring year-round Disney cruise vacations to Japan, set to commence by early 2029. OLC will build and...
Fincantieri and Viking have recently signed contracts for the construction of two new cruise ships, based on the designs of previous ships built by Fincantieri for Viking. The vessels are...
July 3, 2024
Total Views: 962
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.