Monarch has beached in Aliaga, waiting for Sovereign to meet the same fate.
Robbie Cox had already commented on the news of the beaching of the MONARCH at 10.29 two posts above yours, nearly five hours difference!
Very very sad news though, out of all the vessel's so far heading to the scrap merchants the Pullmantur Cruises fleet is without the worst outcome from the Coronavirus pandemic we've yet seen.
Although she is 28 year's old it seems like yesterday when I first visited her shortly after her delivery from Chantiers De l'Atlantique in 1992. The Pullmantur Cruises fleet were always kept immaculate both externally and internally. With Pullmantur Cruises catering to the Brazilian and Spanish markets the Coronavirus pandemic had a major affect on the company and it's a huge blow to the South American and Spanish cruise industry.
With the demise of Pullmantur Spain no longer has it's own cruise company.
The Sovereign class were revolutionary ship's at the time and we're also the biggest cruise ships at the time of their deliveries, they were indeed the first mega cruise ships and have always been extremely popular. If it wasn't for the recent circumstances surrounding the collapse of the cruise industry one would have expected that they would have least seen another five or six years service life remaining.
When I first found out about the news of the MONARCH being beached early this morning I had a cry, it hit me hard, the real reality of what's happening with the cruise industry really sunk in. More so than I realised that my own personal career in the cruise industry after 38 year's may well have also ended. But I'm not looking for a new job, I'm hoping that the cruise industry will return to some form of normality in 2021.