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Sold to Alang Breakers

Sold to Alang Breakers

The 'HMS Enterprise', an Echo-class survey vessel, which played an important role in the Royal Navy since 2003, before being decommissioned on March 30, 2023, will be towed from Portsmouth in April to be transformed into a modern vessel by UK Docks. A multi-million-pound agreement will see initial work on the vessel take place at the UK Docks facility in Teesside, after it was expanded to having four dry docks. It is completely new development for the company, which opens up a lot of possibilities for the company. The fact that this is a capital project for the newly-formed Bangladesh Government and that it was signed by the equivalent of the first and second Sea Lords of the British Admiralty, shows its importance to Bangladesh. Once the former HMS 'Enterprise' reaches the north east, she will be brought back into service and up to operational readiness throughout the course of 2026. UK Docks engineers had previously serviced both HMS 'Enterprise' and HMS 'Echo', while they were part of the Royal Navy. Report with photos: https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/royal-navy-ship-hms-enterprise-transformed-sold-bangladesh-portsmouth-6566408

China Merchants, one of the country's largest industrial companies has abandoned its efforts to develop a luxury cruise product in China, putting the 'Viking Yi Dun', which it had acquired from Viking in 2021, up for sale. The company had paid nearly $400 million in 2021 as part of its joint venture with Viking to take control of the then 'Viking Sun', which was renamed 'Zhao Shang Yi Dun'. It was listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange in Feb 2026, with a minimum price of RMB 2.9 billion (approximately $420 million). Bid dates were due by mid-March, and there was speculation that Viking might buy back the ship, although it has since been removed from Viking's website. China Merchants imposed strict conditions, requiring the buyer to remove any reference to the China Merchants brand from the vessel within one month of completing the purchase and prohibiting it from marketing the vessel with any association or reference to its previous partnership with China Merchants. Furthermore, it was specified that the Viking brand, the names of all public spaces, including onboard restaurants, and the operating systems are licensed from Viking, but the license is not included in the sale. The buyer can negotiate a new agreement with Viking or waive the use of the licensed brand and systems. The transaction was originally intended for the high-end Chinese luxury market. However, at the time of its launch in 2021, China was still under lockdown due to the pandemic, and the ship was limited to coastal cruises. It sailed at various times from the ports of Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Tianjin. Prices were considered high for the Chinese market, and additional onboard fare options further increased the total cost. When China finally reopened the international cruise market, the joint venture attempted to reposition the 'Viking Yi Dun', switching from five-day coastal cruises to eight-day cruises. Between September and November 2024 and again in 2025, Viking marketed the ship internationally for cruises departing from China. However, the ship frequently sailed with only 600 passengers, significantly fewer than its capacity of 930, and continued to be a financial loss By 2026, Viking had planned to reposition the ship in Europe.

The 'Ceara', built 1955/56 as the Thomaston class - L - Landing Ship/Platform Dock USS 'Hermitage LSD-34', and decommissioned on Oct 2, 1989, and loaned to Brazilian Navy, which commissioned it as NDD 'Ceará (G30)' on Nov 28, served until April 29, 2016, and was finally sunk as a target ship on June 10, 2021, off Cabo Frio in the South Atlantic. Photo under preparation in 2019: https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/3956947?navList=gallery&category=61&page=1&viewType=normal&sortBy=newest