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The Gemini, a 538-foot luxury cruise ship, usually takes tourists from Turkey to the Greek islands.
Now it has become a floating shelter for hundreds of Turkish earthquake survivors who lost their homes.
They are among nearly 2 million people who were uprooted by the earthquakes that devastated swaths of Turkey and neighbouring Syria last month.
The vessel is docked in Iskenderun Port off the coast of southern Turkey, where the quakes and aftershocks levelled entire streets and left many people homeless.
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On board are 1251 people including 210 children, two nurses and four doctors, according to the European Pressphoto Agency.
While its new passengers are expected to be relocated, the ship has provided some temporary respite from the wreckage of a disaster that killed more than 46,000 people.
Also on deck are some 180 crew members providing care, as children roam the hallways or watch movies in its entertainment centre.
Emrah Gurel/AP
People warm themselves next to a collapsed building in Malatya, Turkey.
And one of the Gemini’s temporary residents, Turkish barber Yunus Kutuku, said he was keeping busy by shaving others on the ship after his home and shop were destroyed.
The temblors also left Hulya Saygili, a mother of four, and her family stranded.
“We were on the seventh floor at the time,” she told Turkish broadcaster TRT World.
“I was with my husband, and we hugged each other until it stopped. We had to stay outside in the beginning.”
“Now we are fine here,” she said aboard the ship. “But life is very hard for those who stay in tents.”
Turkey’s disaster management agency said more than 1.9 million people were offered shelter in locations including tents, containers, dormitories, hotels and guesthouses.
Those staying on the Gemini mostly include seniors, pregnant women, families with young children, and survivors whose relatives were killed, according to a TV interview with a port operations manager, Gokhan Merey.
“It is a great honour for us to do this job,” he said.
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