Cruise ships are being dismantled for scrap metal in Turkey. The Covid pandemic has wrecked the cruising industry.

Hey look at my Splatoon team’s new logo I made

In the land of the dinosaurs....

A man is dwarfed by the decomposing hulk of a large ship being dismantled on the beach of a ship-breaker.

The image above is reminiscent of what it might have been like, had human beings existed as dinosaurs roamed the earth roughly 100-200 million years ago.

Cycles of life....

Ships die....

It’s called the ship breakers. And many of the world’s retired ships go to the northern shores of the Indian Ocean -- to India, Bangladesh and Pakistan -- to be dismantled, recycled, buried....and cease to exist.

Other major ship breakers are located in the United States (Brownsville, Texas)....Turkey....and northeastern China.

As with all things in life, ships, too, have an end....and it isn't pretty or easy.

But, as with all living things....after they die, their chemical makeup will eventually nurture new life....or, in a ship’s case, perhaps a new ship with recycled metals.

There’s a cycle of life....for living things....and for almost-living things like ships....

                                           *          *          *          *

So, might I end this post on a positive note....as we witness the beginning of new life....a brand new ship....as the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II (dressed in pink in the photo below....standing next to the ship’s first Captain) christens the magnificent new 141,000-ton P&O Cruises ship Britannia on March 11, 2015....with a traditional bottle of fine champagne splashed against her bow....

Where ships go to die....

A hard-driven retired ocean vessel gets dragged ashore near Karachi, Pakistan....to be broken-up for scrap metal and other salvageable materials....until the once-huge machine disappears from existence.

                                 ____________________

Farewell to a legend....

The cruise ship probably most responsible for creating a huge and vibrant ocean cruising market, the legendary Pacific Princess, has died.

The iconic vessel (most recently named, simply, Pacific) has been delivered to the ship breakers at Aliaga, on the Aegean coast of Turkey. The 13,500-ton, 561-foot, 626-passenger ship will be stripped for its metal and parts....and completely dismantled. She will simply disappear.

Her glory days as the setting for the exceptionally popular 1970s/80s (ten seasons, including specials) ABC-TV show, The Love Boat, grew a whole new generation of leisure cruisers....and a vibrant cruise market that thrives to this day, despite endless worldwide economic volatility.

In essence, Pacific Princess was the Mother of today's cruise industry!

Pictured in the two top photos above [CLICK for close-ups], the Pacific Princess, in her attractive Princess Cruises livery. She was a true classic beauty!

She sailed for Princess Cruises from 1975 until 2002....then for Spanish Pullmantur Cruises until 2008. Since 2008, she had been laid-up in Italy, plagued by incompetent owners, legal contortions, and financial problems.

Alas, in the fourth photo above, her sad ending at the Turkish ship breakers this week.

May her legend live on in the hearts of cruisers everywhere! She made it all happen!

                                    Pacific Princess (1971-2013)

                                    _________________________