Business is booming at a sea dock in western Turkey, where hulking cruise ships are being dismantled for scrap metal sales after the COVID-19 pandemic all but destroyed the industry, the head of a ship recyclers’ group said on Friday. Cruise ships were home to the some of the earliest clusters of COVID-19 as the pandemic spread globally early this year.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content. Open this photo in gallery: A drone image shows decommissioned cruise ships being dismantled at Aliaga ship-breaking yard in the Aegean port city of Izmir, western Turkey. UMIT BEKTAS/Reuters
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Open this photo in gallery: Decommissioned cruise ships being dismantled at Aliaga ship-breaking yard in the Aegean port city of Izmir, western Turkey. UMIT BEKTAS/Reuters
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Open this photo in gallery: Noyan Yurttas stands in the doorway of his store, which sells items salvaged from ships, by the recycling docks in Aliaga, Turkey. Bradley Secker/The New York Times News Service
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Open this photo in gallery: Stacks of salvaged items and cruise ships in the process of being scrapped and recycled at a shipyard on the Aegean Coast, in Aliaga, Turkey. Bradley Secker/The New York Times News Service
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Open this photo in gallery: Five luxury cruise ships are seen being broken down for scrap metal at the Aliaga ship recycling port in Izmir, Turkey. Chris McGrath/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: Various lighting fixtures salvaged from ships at a recycling shipyard on the Aegean Coast, in Aliaga, Turkey. Bradley Secker/The New York Times News Service
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Open this photo in gallery: Lifeboats from large ships at a recycling shipyard on the Aegean Coast, in Aliaga, Turkey. Bradley Secker/The New York Times News Service
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Open this photo in gallery: Luxury cruise ships are seen being broken down for scrap metal at the Aliaga ship recycling port in Izmir, Turkey. Chris McGrath/Getty Images
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Open this photo in gallery: Cruise ships in the process of being scrapped and recycled at a shipyard on the Aegean Coast, in Aliaga, Turkey. Bradley Secker/The New York Times News Service
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Open this photo in gallery: A drone image shows decommissioned cruise ships being dismantled at Aliaga ship-breaking yard in the Aegean port city of Izmir, western Turkey. UMIT BEKTAS/Reuters
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