Two workers killed while dismantling the famous Love Boat
Dismantling ships is a difficult and dangerous job. Retired ships are often stripped for their metal and parts.
The Love Boat's final journey ended in tragedy when two workers were killed by toxic gasses as the famed cruise ship entered a Turkish port on its way to be dismantled.
The cruise ship made famous in the ABC television show "The Love Boat" started taking in water in a storage area under the main engine.
Crews used electric pumps to drain the water on Saturday when exhaust from the ship's engine built up and led to the toxic exposure, said the dismantling company Izmir Ship Recycling Co.
Six other people were injured and have since been released from the hospital.
According to Istanbul’s Hurriyet Daily News, the ship ran into trouble after a rough trip from Genoa, Italy, to Turkey's Aegean coast.
The 19,903-ton ship is being dismantled and stripped of its metal and parts, said Ersin Ceviker of the Ship Recyclers' Association of Turkey.
It was bought by Turkey's Izmir Ship Recycling Co. for $3.3 million and the company plans to spend between seven and eight months dismantling the vessel.
The ship starred on Aaron Spelling's TV series between 1977 and 1987 as the Pacific Princess, which sailed mainly from California to the Mexican Riveria.
After its television retirement it was renamed Quail Cruises and was used for Mediterranean Sea tours.
Dismantling ships, or shipbreaking as it's known, is a difficult and dangerous business.
According to the Brussels-based NGO Shipbreaking Platform, at least 15 workers were killed last year on or around end-of-life ships beached in Bangladesh.
South Asia's beaches are the most popular destination for dismantling ships.
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