The Astoria is reportedly heading to a ship recycling yard in Belgium after being auctioned earlier this month.

Sources in the European country claim that the 1948-built ship will be dismantled by Galloo in the port of Ghent.

According to a report by Flows, the West Flemish company paid 200,000 euros for the vessel, which has been out of service in Rotterdam since 2020.

During the process, Galloo is expected to recover 12,000 tons of building materials from the ship, including metals, wood, glass and plastic.

Over 95 percent of these materials are said to be processed into reusable raw materials, De Tijd said.

As an approved recycling yard under EU legislation, Galloo is authorized to dismantle the Astoria, which is registered in Portugal’s Madeira International Shipping Register.

After five years docked in the Dutch port of Rotterdam, the 520-guest ship was auctioned on June 17, 2025.

At the time, local media reported that a winning bid of 200,000 euros had been placed by an anonymous party, which would also be responsible for settling the ship’s debts.

Originally built as a Swedish ocean liner, the Astoria entered service in 1948 under the name Stockholm.

In the 1950s, the vessel was involved in an accident that ended with the sinking of the Italian liner Andrea Doria.

The 16,100-ton vessel was converted into a full-time cruise ship in the mid-1990s, sailing for various brands over the next decades.

Last operated by the now-defunct Cruise & Maritime Voyages, the Astoria has been out of service since early 2020.

Initially placed in layup due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the vessel was later involved in a project backed by crypto investor Brock Pierce.

The plans were later abandoned, and the ship remained docked in Rotterdam, waiting for a decision regarding its future.