Breaking down a ship
"Then a small crew, maybe about 50, will take it out to India," says Miller. "It's a very lonesome last voyage, because the ship is empty, no passengers, but yet it has the feel as if it's still a cruise ship, because all the furniture would still be in place. That's all sold in parcel with the ship itself."
He first visited Alang in 2004, telling CNN Travel he spotted "10 historic former liners and first generation cruise ships" on the beaches on that one trip alone. With the aid of a local agent, Knego gains access to the vessel, often climbing up a ladder, to scout the items he wants, then makes deals to buy them. These are then packed them into a container for shipping back to his home in the United States, which he describes as an "ocean liner museum."
Items that don't have a place in his house go up on his website for sale. He says pieces are usually snapped up by ocean liner enthusiasts or collectors looking for mid-century furniture. "To see such large objects on a beach being demolished in an otherwise natural setting is both fascinating and heartbreaking," he says.In the wake of the pandemic, there's been talk of how cruise ship interiors can be reimagined to protect from the Covid-induced lockdowns that characterized the first half of 2020.
Certain countries too cheap to provide for their own defense/defence could simply buy them at rock-bottom prices, paint them grey and reconfigure them as supply ships, troop carriers or hospital ships. Just a suggestion.
Get rid of the whole industry