Working Conditions Aboard the Ocean-Majesty

After in June it was announced that the authorities were seeking a more cost-effective alternative for the “Ocean Majesty” as accommodation for asylum seekers, which would likely have meant the end for the 60-year-old ship, the Dutch authorities now have agreed with the owners on lower rates. This means that the “Ocean Majesty” will remain at a berth in Velse until at least July 1, 2026, with an option to extend until Dec 31 also been agreed upon. On Dec 4, 2025, the “Ocean Majesty” will celebrate the 60th birthday.

The 'Ocean Majesty' is set to leave from its berth in Velsen after three years housing asylum seekers. The ship is scheduled to depart the port near Amsterdam in early August 2025. The vessel has been serving as a floating hotel as part of a charter contract with local government entities. The deal was set to end soon as the 'Ocean Majesty' was deemed too expensive for the operation and also considered too large for the job. It currently houses only 300 asylum seekers. The local government is now looking for a smaller and cheaper replacement, having held two tenders to locate interested shipowners. The 'Ocean Majesty' was disqualified because of the cost to charter the ship.

The "Ocean Majesty" is to be converted into a refugee home. The contracts of the 220 crew members from the charterer "Hansa Touristik" have already been terminated. The ship will then serve as asylum accommodation in Amsterdam, where it could bring in more money for the operator. Most recently, the "Ocean Majesty" was on a 21-day cruise to Greenland before returning to Hamburg on Aug 7, 2023. The 'Ocean Majesty' was detained in June 2022 due to serious safety deficiencies by the Swedish authorities. The current cruise had to be canceled at that time. The problems were presumably related to the long layup period from March 2020 to April 2022.

An investigation was launched by the Maritime Prefect of the Atlantic against the 'Ocean Majesty', which was suspected of having emptied its garbage cans off the coast of Glenan. he pollution concerned plastic debris, oil cans, and various wastes that were been found by fishermen and pleasure boat owners in the Glenan Islands. The vessel was inspected while it was mooredin the port of Lorient on May 13, 2022. The inspection yielded nothing, and the vessel was then allowed to continue its voyage to the port of Saint-Nazaire. TThe investigation continued, and the waste that was still collected, was thoroughly examined.