In February 1993, the ship was sold yet again, with the intention of bein
g refitted to become a five-star hotel ship off Phuket, in Thailand. Drydocking at that time revealed that despite the years of neglect, her hull was still in remarkably good condition.
k, the funnel and bridge were painted red, and ladders were welded to starboard. She left Greece on 22 December 1993 under tow, but the tow proved impossible due to the weather. She then returned to Greece for a few days until the weather calmed down. On New Year's Eve 1993, the American Star left Greece for the last time by Ukrainian tug Neftegaz 67.
The one hundred day tow began; The American Star and Neftegaz 67 entered a thunder storm in the Atlantic. The tow lines broke and six or more men were sent aboard the American Star to reattach the emergency tow lines. This proved unsuccessful. Two other towboats were called to assist Neftegaz 67. On 17 January, the crew aboard
the American Star was rescued by helicopter. The American Star was left drifting. On 18 January The American Star ran aground off the west coast of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.
While discussions between the ship's owners, the towing firm, and the companies insuring the ship were going on, the ship was left to nature, with the forward part of the ship running aground on a sandbar. Within the first 48 hours of pounding surf of the Atlantic, the American Star br
oke in two just past the second funnel. The ship was declared a total loss on 6 July 1994. The stern section soon collapsed completely to port and sank, while the bow continued to remain intact.
In November 2005, the port side of the bow section collapsed, which caused the liner's remains to assume a much sharper list and the remaining funnel to detach and fall into the ocean. The collapse of the port side also caused the hull to begin to break up and by October 2006, the wreck had almost completely collapsed onto its port side. Source: Wikipedia












