The former Celebrity Cruises and Pullmantur Cruises cruise ship Zenith has arrived at the ship-breaking yard in Alang, India. The 30-year-old cruise ship, which is currently anchored off the coast of Alang, will be broken up for scrap metal in the coming months. Zenith was built in 1992 by the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.
The ship follows her sister, Horizon, which arrived at the ship-breaking yard in Aliaga, Turkey, a little over three weeks ago, also to be scrapped. Both ships sailed for Celebrity Cruises and Spanish cruise line Pullmantur.
Zenith Awaits Scrapping in India
Built in 1992 at the world-famous Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, after almost thirty years of service, Zenith has reached her final destination. The former Celebrity Cruises and Pullmantur cruise ship arrived at the Alang shipbreaking yard in Alang, India, where she will be broken up into scrap metal.
The 47,413 gross tons cruise ship is currently anchored off the coast of Alang, awaiting the moment she will be beached in preparation for breaking work to commence.
Since 2021, Zenith had been awaiting her fate in Greece, where she remained until recently. She then sailed to Oman, where she was renamed TSM Singapore, until the time came to set course to Alang.
Zenith was built by the Meyer shipyard in Germany for Celebrity Cruises and started her career sailing from Florida to the Caribbean and Bermuda. She was operational for Celebrity Cruises through 2007. In 2007 Zenith was transferred to Pullmantur Cruises, the Spanish cruise line owned by Royal Caribbean Group.
From 2007 she spent most of her time sailing around the Mediterranean and Canary Islands until she was transferred to CDF Croisieres de France, joining her sister ship, the L’Horizon, in 2014.
Her career at the French Cruise Line, also owned by the royal Caribbean Group, did not last long. In 2017 the company was disbanded, and Zenith returned to service with Pullmantur Cruises.
However, at the time, the Spanish cruise line was already struggling. Royal Caribbean Group announced in July 2019 that Zenith would be sold to Peace Boat in early 2020. She was last active as Peace Boat in 2020-2021 before being replaced by Sun Princess.
Two Sisters Now Scrapped
Celebrity Zenith was an exact copy of her sister, Celebrity Horizon. Both ships have had a thirty-year sailing career, mostly sailing for the same cruise lines throughout.
At the time she was built, Celebrity Horizon was the very first new-built cruise ship for the cruise line. Celebrity Horizon arrived at the shipbreaking yard in Aliaga, Turkey, in August 2022, also for scrapping.
Celebrity Zenith and Horizon signaled the start for Celebrity Cruises to become a global giant in the cruise industry. The same cannot be said about Pullmantur Cruises. Although the company was popular early on, the last couple of years before the pandemic showed a definite decline in profitability.
By June 2020, Royal Caribbean Group and the board of directors announced a reorganization, which evolved into a complete liquidation in July 2021.
