The former Phoenix Reisen's ship ms Albatros, which was built back in 1973 in Finland as Royal Viking Sea for the Royal Viking Line (1972-founded/1998-defunct), was sold to Indian buyers for demolition.
Albatros had been intended to be used as a floating hotel in Egypt, but the project (unveiled in 2020) fell through. Consequently, Albatros follows former Fred Olsen’s liners / sisterships Boudicca and Black Watch for demolition in Alang India.
Reports in the maritime media said that buyers offered scrap prices in excess of US$600 per light displacement tonne, which is a new high.
In early-October 2020, Phoenix Reisen announced that the company ended its charter agreement for the Albatros ship. As the 47-year-old vessel was sold, she left the Phoenix Reisen fleet and changed ownership - from TSS Albatros GmbH (Germany) to PickAlbatros Hotels & Resorts Egypt (part of PickAlbatros Group).
A total of 34x Phoenix Reisen Albatros cruises were cancelled - all itineraries scheduled for the period October 8, 2020, through March 29, 2022.
The new shipowner (Pickalbatros) is headquartered in Nasr City (one of Cairo's districts) and owns and operates two leisure complexes (large aqua parks) plus several resorts and hotels on Red Sea (in Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and Marsa Alam). Pickalbatros owns and operates the cruise ship as a hotel ship.
On October 21, the vessel left her Port Le Havre anchorage en route to Port Said, where she arrived on November 9, 2020. Since mid-November 2020, the vessel remained docked at Port Hurghada.