MS Astoria, recognized as the oldest ocean-going passenger ship in the world, has been towed into Ghent, Belgium, to begin dismantling after 77 years at sea.
The 1948-launched vessel (initially named Stockholm) was acquired in mid‑June at auction in Rotterdam for EUR 200,000 by the Flemish recycling firm Galloo, the only bidder.
Under European regulations, the ship must be scrapped at an approved facility, and Ghent has been selected to oversee its dismantling.
From her origins as the Stockholm of the Swedish American Line, the ship earned enduring fame following a collision in 1956 with the Italian liner Andrea Doria near Nantucket—a catastrophe that claimed 46 lives yet saw Stockholm emerge damaged but seaworthy, bearing survivors into New York.
Over the decades, she bore multiple names and served under various national flags—as Völkerfreundschaft in East Germany, Athena, and eventually Astoria, operating as a boutique cruise vessel until the insolvency of her final operator, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, in 2020.
Having spent five years laid up in Rotterdam since the early days of the pandemic, the ship was towed in early July and reached Ghent on July 4.
Its final voyage measured scarcely over one hundred miles, a brief distance after an extraordinary service record spanning countless transatlantic crossings. Galloo anticipates recovering approximately 12,000 tonnes of material, up to 97 percent of which will be recycled—a testament to the emerging focus on sustainable ship dismantling in Europe.
In comparison to many modern cruise vessels retired after mere decades, the Astoria’s longevity of over seven decades stands singular in the maritime realm, marking the close of a remarkable era.
Her hull may soon be broken apart, but the chapters of her storied past—wartime service, transatlantic liner duties, brushes with disaster and piracy, and decades as a beloved cruise ship—will endure in the annals of maritime history.