What Happened to the Cruise Ship Marco Polo?

By Michael Ferguson

The Marco Polo was a British ocean liner built in 1965 by the Vickers-Armstrongs shipbuilding company. The ship was originally intended to be a luxury ocean liner, capable of carrying up to 1,200 passengers between Europe and North America. However, with the decline of the luxury ocean liner industry in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Marco Polo was converted into a cruise ship and began operating Mediterranean cruises in 1972.

The Marco Polo enjoyed a successful career as a cruise ship until November 1994 when it ran aground off the coast of Greece. Although there were no serious injuries, the incident damaged the reputation of the vessel and its owners, Orient Line. This led to Orient Line deciding to sell the vessel in 1995.

The Marco Polo was bought by Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) and began operating again in 1996 under its new name, Discovery. The vessel continued cruising for CMV until 2008 when it became clear that it wasn’t meeting modern safety requirements. CMV decided to retire the vessel from service and it was sold for scrap in 2009.

Conclusion:

The Marco Polo had an interesting history as an ocean liner and later as a cruise ship. However, due to its age and lack of modern safety features, it had to be retired from service in 2008 and sold for scrap in 2009.