A nostalgic final chapter began this past weekend for Royal Caribbean’s former cruise ship, the Song of America, as it reached its final resting place at the Alang Shipbreaking Yard in India – around 6,500 nautical miles from the Wartsila Hietalahti shipyard in Finland where she was crafted.
The vessel, the fourth-ever ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet, has been a familiar sight on the high seas for four decades since it debuted in 1982. Now, the ship will go through a meticulous dismantling and recycling breakdown, marking her official end.
Renamed in 2024 as the Bella Fortuna, or Fortu, for short, the vessel embarked on her final journey on January 22, 2025, sailing from Port Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. to the west coast of India, where she arrived around 3:30 p.m. on February 1.
The ship’s pilot utilized the high tide at Alang’s beach on the Gulf of Khambhat, which reached 35.43 feet by 6:58 p.m., to get the vessel as far onto the beach as possible, operating at a controlled speed to purposely push the ship inland.
Once beached, anchors and chains were used to stabilize the ship, as the tide receded to less than 5 feet just before 2 a.m. on February 2.
Measuring just over 703 feet in length with a beam of 107 feet, onlookers were on hand to witness the ship’s arrival, with work immediately underway to dismantle it.
The former Song of America is now undergoing a labor-intensive break down at Alang Shipbreaking, which could take scrappers anywhere from 2 weeks to several months to complete.
Besides removing its steel and metal to be recycled, possibly to be used in the construction of a new ship, workers are draining the vessel of any fuel and oils it contains.
Any other hazardous materials like asbestos and hydrocarbons will be identified, packaged, and safely removed to avoid environmental contamination.
Video of the ship’s interior shows it is fully outfitted with furnishings, like chairs, tables, and beds, which scrappers will remove for resale and reuse. Valuable materials, such as electronics, wiring, piping, and the like, will also be stripped from the vessel and recycled.
After this, the ship’s hull will be cut into sections, much as the ship was constructed in sections, for recycling.
The Many Lives of Fortu
Although Bella Fortuna began gloriously as Song of America, it has faced a number of changes over its more than four decades at sea. The vessel was sold in 1999 to UK-based Airtours, where she was renamed Sunbird.
It then joined Thomson Cruises, also based in the UK, in 2005, as Thomson Destiny, and then became a charter vessel for Louis Cruise Lines for two years, even housing Olympic athletes during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.
Read Also: Cruise Ship Scrapping – Everything You Need to Know
After which, she found a new home with Celestyal Cruises, once again receiving a new name, the Celestyal Olympia.
The 37,800-gross-ton, 1,664-passenger Celestyal Olympia enjoyed 10 years with the cruise line, often sailing the Greek Isles, before it was sold to an unidentified buyer and receiving her final moniker.
However, Fortu didn’t welcome passengers, instead spending four months docked in Turkey and then another eight months docked in the U.A.E.
