Former Nippon Maru Beached at Alang After 35 Years in Service
Mitsui retired the vessel on May 10 after more than five million kilometers sailed, calls at more than four hundred ports and over six hundred thousand passengers carried.
The former Nippon Maru has been beached at Alang, India, for recycling, the first cruise ship to reach a breaking yard in nearly a year. The Japanese-built ship left the Mitsui Ocean Cruises fleet in May 2026 after more than 35 years in service and more than 2,000 cruises.
The latest removals are concentrated among older tonnage built from 1948 to 1990. Capacities ranged from 186 to about 1,400 guests in their last reported operating configurations. Alang handled three of the five most recent cruise ships sold for scrap, while yards in Belgium and Turkey received one vessel each.
Nippon Maru’s final steps before Alang
Built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Kobe in 1990, Nippon Maru measured 22,472 gross tons and 167 meters in length, with capacity for roughly 600 passengers. Mitsui retired the vessel on May 10 after a career that included more than 5.3 million kilometers sailed, calls at more than 400 ports and more than 600,000 passengers carried.
Before the ship left Asia, MOL O.S.K. Lines offered furniture and other onboard items for sale under the Nippon Maru Memorial Goods Project. The sale included Horizon Lounge coffee tables, bridge chairs, deck furniture, restaurant and cabin pieces, and repurposed items made from light fixtures, chandelier crystals, lifebuoys, clocks, ropes and curtains.
A retirement ceremony in Yokohama drew more than 7,000 visitors, including former passengers and ship admirers. AIS data before the beaching showed the vessel renamed Mary, sailing under the Comoros flag toward India’s Bhavnagar region.
Celestyal ships among recent scrap sales
Two of the five most recent cruise ships sent for dismantling were former Celestyal Cruises vessels. The former Celestyal Olympia was beached at Alang in February 2025 after Celestyal sold the ship in early 2024 and it spent about a year in layup.
Originally delivered to Royal Caribbean as Song of America in 1982, the former Celestyal Olympia was built by Wärtsilä Hietalahti in Helsinki and later operated at 37,773 gross tons. Celestyal listed the vessel with capacity for 1,402 guests, while later technical configurations put maximum passenger capacity at more than 1,600.
The former Celestyal Crystal followed in May 2025, arriving at Alang as Sun Bright. The 25,611-gt vessel was built in 1980 as Viking Saga at Wärtsilä Marine’s Perno yard in Turku, converted to cruise use in 1986 and later sailed for operators including Silja Line, Star Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Celestyal Cruises. Its final Celestyal voyage ended in September 2023 before the line introduced Celestyal Journey.
Belgium and Turkey take the other vessels
Astoria, the oldest ship in the group, was sold at auction in July 2025 to recycling specialist Galloo Gent in Belgium after more than five years out of service. The 16,144-gt vessel was built in 1948 as the trans-Atlantic liner Stockholm, later underwent a major reconstruction in 1994 and last sailed for Cruise & Maritime Voyages. Dismantling in Ghent is expected to take 18 months.
Ocean Atlantic, last operated by Albatros Expeditions, went to the Aliaga Shipbreaking Yard in Turkey in May 2025. Built in 1986 as a Soviet cruise ferry and later converted for expedition operations, the 12,798-gt, 186-passenger ship had spent several years laid up in Northern France before the sale.
Mitsui’s next fleet addition, Mitsui Ocean Sakura, is scheduled to debut on September 19, 2026.
