QE2 Today
Updated on November 30th, 2009 by Rob Lightbody
QE2 was handed over to her new owners, Nakheel, at Port Rashid in Dubai on November 27th, 2008. At the time it was expected that within a few months, she would go into Dubai Dry Dock for a radical rebuild which would leave only a few small parts of the ship intact, and would remove her engines.
However 2009 also marked the biggest global recession the world has seen, which had knock-on effects for big projects all over the world, including Dubai's QE2 project.
The world watches and waits...
As the months passed and rumours came and went, QE2 continued to sit exactly where her final passengers had left her and her engines could be seen to be still running. In fact they were being cycled through one at a time so that they stayed in good condition.
Cruise ships came and went, docking immediately behind her. Her former fleet-mates QM2 and QV visited during their world cruises in March, and QE2 forlornly blew three blasts on her mighty whistle to them to say hello, and goodbye.
At night, all her lights were seen to be on and she looked ready
to set off on another cruise. Only the
absence of the
CUNARD logo from her sides, and the absence of passengers on her
decks, told you another story.
News breaks, of a new QE2 Story about to begin...
But then news broke in July that Nakheel now had a different project in mind for QE2 - that of a floating hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, with the ship staying largely intact and even travelling there under her own power. QE2 fans around the world were over the moon. Their ship was saved, for now!
Then, even better news - QE2 was being completely re-painted and had been dry docked to allow the work to be done properly. The images were exclusively released to The QE2 Story forum first, and caused quite a stir around the world, as these were the first real news and images since QE2's arrival in Dubai all those many months before. Nakheel now had a lot of support from QE2 fans around the world... the great ship was being cared for, and was still intact... more than anyone had hoped for.
In late August, news broke that the QE2 had been registered under a 'flag of convenience' to Port Vila, Vanuatu. The Southampton lettering on her stern was painted over to remain legal.
Mid-September brought bad news, as the Cape Town plans appeared to hit a snag.... by November most QE2 fans had given up on the plan and were assuming that Nakheel had given up on it too. Local politics in Cape Town are suspected to have won over in the end. November brought news that hte global financial turmoil had finally hit Dubai dramatically hard. Once again, concern grows for the QE2, and the world watches and waits... Keep an eye on the forum for all the latest breaking news.
