In 1994, the ship was sold yet again, with the intention of being refitted to become either a hotel or prison ship off of Phuket, in Thailand. Drydocking at that time revealed that despite the years of neglect, her hull was still in remarkably good condition. She was renamed American Star, and with her propellers removed, she left Greece under tow by the Ukrainian tug Neftegaz 67.

On January 15, 1994, while caught in an Atlantic storm, the tow lines broke, and attempts to reestablish the tow at sea were unsuccessful. On January 17, the crew aboard the American Star was rescued by helicopter. The ship ultimately ran aground off 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 resting on a sandbar, the ship broke in two just past the second funnel. Due to this, the ship was declared a total loss on July 6, 1994. The stern section soon collapsed completely and sank, while the bow continued to remain upright.

In November 2005, the port side of the bow section collapsed, causing the liner's remains to assume a much sharper list. This also caused the funnel to detach and fall into the ocean. It appears that the ship's end is near, as the collapse of the port side has caused the ship to begin to break up. As of October 2006, the wreck has nearly collapsed completely onto its port side.