The vessel that played a pivotal role in establishing RCCL/Royal Caribbean Cruise Line as a major player in the cruise industry is set to be dismantled after a distinguished and varied service.
The 1982-launched Song of America marked a turning point for the Royal Caribbean brand, which was then a small cruise company with a 3-ship fleet.
At 37,800 GT-tons (volume) and with max passenger capacity 1575, the vessel was considered large for its time, earning a place among the world’s top 10 cruise ships. Its size was considered a significant gamble at the time, but Song of America proved to be a resounding success, both in terms of passenger appeal and financial performance.
The ship's popularity helped Royal Caribbean transition from a modest sea travel operator to the industry's second-largest cruise shipowner (following only Carnival Corporation), prompting the company to order progressively larger vessels, culminating in the Icon-class vessels of 250,000 GT currently in operation.
However, by the late 1990s, the Song of America had been overtaken by newer ships. In 1998, it was sold to the UK-based Airtours for its Sun Cruises division. It would later pass to Louis Cruises, which acquired it in 2004 and immediately chartered it to the UK’s Thompson Cruises.
By 2014, the vessel was operating as the Celestyal Olympia within the fleet of Louis’s Greek subsidiary, Celestyal Cruises. In late 2023, Celestyal, now under private equity ownership, upgraded its fleet and sold Celestyal Olympia to Voyage Shipping, a Marshall Islands-based entity with ties to Royal Marine Shipmanagement of Singapore.
Renamed Bella Fortuna, the vessel was stationed in Ras Al Khaimah (UAE), for nearly a year, where brokers reported that Voyage Shipping was seeking a buyer for either cruise or accommodation purposes. However, in January 2024, the ship’s status was officially changed to “to be broken up,” and it was renamed Fortu.
On January 22nd, 2024, Fortu left Ras Al Khaimah and, as of Thursday, was reported to be approaching the Gulf of Khambhat, where the Alang ship breaking yard is located.