The fate of an abandoned cruiseship that has spent the better part of six months sitting partly submerged at an Indian shipyard is due to be decided in a pre-Christmas hearing at Bombay High Court.

The 35,100-gross-ton Qing (built 1982) is likely to have attracted only scrap bids when a second auction was held last week.

The result of the auction was supposed to have been announced shortly afterwards, but Mumbai legal sources closely linked to the case tell TradeWinds that the matter has to go before Bombay High Court judge Justice SJ Kathawalla on 23 December.

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