MS ''Sovereign'' (formerly ''Sovereign of the Seas'') was one of three large

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

s of the operated by Pullmantur Cruises and formerly by

Royal Caribbean International Royal Caribbean International (RCI), formerly Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Florida, it is the l ...

. When she was completed in 1987, ''Sovereign of the Seas'' was the world's largest passenger ship. On 24 June 2020, due to economic losses caused by

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, ''Sovereign'' arrived and was beached at Aliağa,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, where she was dismantled.

History

She sailed on her maiden voyage on January 16, 1988, and was initially based at the

Port of Miami The Port of Miami, styled as PortMiami and formally known as the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world and one ...

. In 1998 and 1999, the

cruise company was fined US$9 million because ''Sovereign of the Seas'' had repeatedly dumped oily waste into the ocean and tried to hide this using false records, including fake piping diagrams given to the

US Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, mi ...

. Because the company was and is incorporated in

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

, Royal Caribbean argued that this case was not in the jurisdiction of US courts. Her refurbishment in November 2004 was the subject of the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

mini-series ''Dry-Dock, A Cruise Ship Reborn''. Throughout her time with Royal Caribbean she sailed cruises to the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

out of

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and Port Canaveral,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. These cruises visited Coco Cay, one of RCI's privately owned islands, in the Berry Islands group. In November 2008 ''Sovereign of the Seas'' was transferred to the fleet of Pullmantur Cruises, a Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd subsidiary, and renamed MS ''Sovereign''. ''Sovereign'' set sail on its first voyage with Pullmantur Cruises on March 23, 2009. Similar to other ships in the same class, ''Sovereign'' had a multi-deck atrium lobby and a top-deck, funnel-mounted lounge with panoramic views of the sea. The ship's facilities included nine bars, five restaurants, four pools, a spa and a casino. In 2018, the ship was featured in the film ''Yucatán'', filmed by Telecinco Cinema. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, ''Sovereign'' and were placed into "cold lay-up" and Pullmantur Cruises filed for financial reorganization. According to reports, the interiors of the ships were stripped of "everything of value." On 23 July 2020 she was beached in Aliağa alongside her sistership ''Monarch'', which was beached one day before. Scrapping began in August that year and was finished in February 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sovereign 1987 ships Ships of Royal Caribbean International Ships built in France Ships built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique

History

See also

References

External links