Hong Kong-based Genting Cruise Lines and Dubai's Beacon & Bay Shipping are recycling two cruise ships that have been unable to find trading buyers as the market's appetite for older vessels remains negligible.

Genting, according to well-placed cruise industry sources, is in the process of selling its oldest ship — the 42,300-gt SuperStar Libra (built 1988) — to Turkish ship breakers in a move that will allow it to comply with European Union regulations, which stipulate vessels be sold only to EU-approved yards.