April 6, 2005 – Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) has determined the fate of the S/S Norway; the ship will be transferred to NCL’s parent company and towed to Malaysia’s Port Klang.
In a long-anticipated announcement, though terse statement from NCL on Tuesday said only that parent company, Star Cruises, intends to "utilize the ship in a new venture, details of which will remain undisclosed for the time being."
The announcement came against the backdrop of much speculation in the cruise industry recently about the future of the ill-fated ship.
The S/S Norway, for years a weekly visitor to St. Thomas, suffered a tragic boiler explosion that killed four crew members and injured at least 20 more in May 2003. (See "Norway Explosion Cancels This Week's Cruises"). The ship has been in storage since the explosion.
It is estimated that the cruise line spent $10 million maintaining the former trans-Atlantic luxury cruise ship as it hunted for a company wanting to transform the ship into a floating hotel, according to "Cruise Critics News," a daily on line newsletter.
In the past few weeks, there was talk that the decision would be to sell the stored vessel for the value of its scrap metal, according to the industry publication. However, European shipping industry media reported that the ship would likely face environmental challenges during the scrapping process.
