Two workers lost their lives at the shipbreaking yard in Aliaga Turkey during the dismantling of the former Carnival Cruise Line ship, Carnival Inspiration.
NGO Shipbreaking Platform reported that the accident took place on July 12, 2021, when the workers were caught by flames in the ship's engine room. The circumstances of the death are still unclear. An investigation led by local authorities is ongoing and is due to be finalized soon.
Following the COVID crisis and the travel industries' global shutdown, Carnival Corporation sold Carnival Inspiration to the EU-listed yard Ege Celik for scrapping. Because of lack of dismantling capacity, Ege Celik (with Carnival Corporation's approval) moved the vessel to Metas (ship recycling facility purchased recently by Ege Celik) but not yet part of the EU list.
The recent accident is another reminder of how dangerous ship recycling is. In the last 10 months, the Turkish shipbreaking industry has been hit by a number of accidents. 2 workers lost their lives at 2 separate yards prompting concerns about the conditions in the Aliaga Ship Recycling Facility (north of Izmir), including the lack of transparency on occupational diseases that sicken the workers and the management of hazardous wastes downstream.
For more Carnival Inspiration accidents and incidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.