Love Boat makes final run to scrap heap

ISTANBUL - Reuters

The Love Boat is now being scrapped in Turkish facility on the Aegean Coast. DHA photo

The MS Pacific, a cruise ship made famous by its appearance in the popular U.S. 1970s television show “The Love Boat,” has sailed its final voyage to a ship-breaking yard on Turkey’s Aegean Sea coast, a shipping group said.

Called the Pacific Princess when it was on the long-running comedy, the iconic 13,500-tonne, 171-m-long (561-foot-) vessel will be stripped for its metal and parts, said Ersin Çeviker of the Ship Recyclers’ Association of Turkey.

Aaron Spelling’s “The Love Boat,” starring Gavin MacLeod as the ship’s captain, ran on the U.S. television network ABC from 1977 to 1986. The show was set on board the Pacific Princess, which mainly sailed from California to the Mexican Riveria.

Each week passengers and crew members, caught under the Pacific Princess’ romantic spell, engaged in love affairs or humorous encounters during the one-hour show.

“This ship has undergone several modifications over its lifespan. It had been decommissioned for five years, and renovation now would have been too costly,” Çeviker said.

Turkey’s Izmir Ship Recycling Co. acquired the 42-year-old Pacific for 2.5 million euros ($3.3 million).

The vintage cruiseliner arrived from Genoa, Italy, at the breakers in the seaside town of Aliağa in Turkey late on Aug. 6 after a difficult trip in a violent storm, Çeviker said.