The ship of ‘lost lives and lost dreams’

Beirut’s Orient Queen was the city’s only cruise ship… She offered an escape from the city, a family run floating party boat that was a summer haven for some and a home from home for the people who worked on board. On August 6th last year she became one of the casualties of the Beirut port explosion in which over 200 people lost their lives, thousands were injured and hundreds of thousands were made homeless in an instant. Unluckily for her owners and her crew, some of who were still on board at the time, Coronavirus restrictions meant that there were no passengers to take out to sea and she had been parked along the dockside.

The ship of ‘lost lives and lost dreams’ is not only the story of this ship but an example of how so many things collide to create a situation of hopelessness within a place like Lebanon. Economic collapse, political turmoil, corruption on an industrial level, unemployment, the migrant influx from a neighbouring country at war and then on top of all an explosion that devastates a large portion of the capital city. This is a remarkable place with remarkable people but how much more can they endure.

This piece was actually filmed by three different people including me but I edited it.

Kit Used: Canon C300mkii