No, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Did Not Abandon a Cruise Ship in the Desert

A viral video claiming to show a luxury cruise ship stranded in a desert, allegedly abandoned by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, has been debunked as an AI-generated fabrication.

The manipulated footage began circulating on December 22 when user @InaOlad posted it on X (formerly Twitter) with a caption mocking Ahmed: “Someone please notify Abiy Ahmed to come collect his 5-star Cruiser. Leaving that thing in the desert is disrespectful… to the desert itself.”

The post, which has garnered significant attention online, appears to be satirical commentary on Ethiopia’s geopolitical ambitions regarding Red Sea access. However, the video itself contains multiple telltale signs of artificial generation.

Close examination of the footage reveals numerous inconsistencies that would be impossible in genuine footage. In one segment showing the ship’s exterior, the vessel has a single deck with large picture windows below the lifeboats. Just seconds later, a different angle of supposedly the same ship inexplicably shows two tiers of these windows. The lifeboats themselves also vary in number and size between shots.

Perhaps most revealing is a scene purportedly showing an abandoned galley inside the ship. The menu boards visible above serving stations display text that doesn’t belong to any known language or alphabet—a common flaw in AI-generated content where systems attempt to mimic the appearance of text without actually producing readable words.

The timing of this fabricated story aligns with real diplomatic tensions in the Horn of Africa. In September, Prime Minister Ahmed made statements suggesting it was a “mistake” for Ethiopia to lose access to the Red Sea when Eritrea gained independence in 1993. These comments have created friction between the neighboring nations.

Ethiopia, as a landlocked country, has long sought reliable access to maritime shipping routes. Before Eritrea’s independence, Ethiopia heavily relied on Eritrean ports for international trade. Ahmed’s government has expressed interest in peacefully negotiating access rights, though some regional partners have viewed Ethiopia’s positioning as potentially provocative.

According to ABC News reporting from December 13, the Ethiopian government maintains it wants to “peacefully gain Red Sea access through Eritrea.” However, Ahmed’s rhetoric has raised concerns among Eritrean officials.

No legitimate news sources have reported anything resembling an abandoned cruise ship in the desert connected to the Ethiopian government. An engineering and logistical undertaking of such magnitude—moving a massive cruise ship inland to a desert location—would certainly generate substantial media coverage from local, national, and international news organizations.

This fabricated story represents an increasingly common phenomenon where AI-generated content is used to create convincing but entirely fictional narratives around real political figures and geopolitical situations. The sophistication of such content continues to improve, requiring viewers to scrutinize visual media more carefully than ever.

For Ethiopia and its neighbors, genuine questions about regional cooperation, resource sharing, and maritime access remain important policy considerations, even as fictional narratives attempt to distract from the actual diplomatic discussions taking place in the Horn of Africa.