ASTORIA Final Transit (exclusive 4K drone footage)

Correction: In the narration, I describe the location as Zeebrugge but it was actually off the coast of Flushing. Apologies for any confusion I may have caused. On July 4, the 1948-built MV ASTORIA was captured in spectacular drone footage as she made a short return to the Atlantic ocean during her tow from Rotterdam to Ghent, Belgium, where she will be broken up for scrap. Often mistakenly called "the oldest cruise ship in the world", the ASTORIA was Swedish American Line's first Post War liner STOCKHOLM and is best known for her July 25, 1956 collision with the Italian liner ANDREA DORIA off Nantucket. The DORIA sank with a total loss of 51 lives between the two ships. STOCKHOLM was badly damaged but participated in the rescue of many survivors and sailed on to New York where a new bow was eventually fitted. In 1960, she became the East German cruise ship VOLKERFREUNDSCHAFT, a role she performed for the next 25 years. After a brief stint as the FRIDTJOF NANSEN, an accommodation ship for refugees at Oslo, she was completely rebuilt and entered service in 1994 as Nina Cruise Lines ITALIA PRIMA. The ship would change hands and names several times, last sailing as the ASTORIA for UK-based Cruise and Maritime Voyages. During the Covid crisis in 2020, CMV went bankrupt and ASTORIA was bought by a crypto currency entrepreneur who had no idea about operating or even maintaining a cruise ship. She was basically abandoned and left to rot in Rotterdam and was finally auctioned off for a mere 200K Euros this past June to Belgian scrappers. She left Rotterdam under tow on July 3, arriving in Ghent on July 4. Music licensed from artilst: "The Last Road Trip" by Tommy H. Branden and "Time Will Only Tell" by Ran Raiten. #cruiseship #oceanliner #msstockholm #andreadoria #astoriaship #historicships #scrapships