Final Voyage Day by Day

[cunardqueen]

QE2s arrival to hell was getting closer and closer
   

And some might say that was ony the start of it..

[June Ingram]

26 November, we are here....

27 November, it is all over....

28 November to the present and to the future for all time - our beloved QE2 ("our" meaning those who hold her dear, those who worked on her, those who travelled on her, those who admired her from afar) is a part of us.

[cunardqueen]

Note the departure time..
This was from wall calendar in Sailors Square Nov 11th 2008
The print shop guys as always a sharp sense of humour.

[Brandon Sterkel]

November 27, 2008: The day we all hoped would never come.

[Louis De Sousa]

November 27, 2008: The day we all hoped would never come.

A port in which she should have never arrived

[Cunarder Man]

Arrival into Dubai and 'we' hit the news!

[Cunarder Man]

A view from Dubai on 28 Nov 2008. She was clean then.

[Brandon Sterkel]

December 1, 2008: According to World Ship Society NY, Most of the crew including Captain Ian McNaught and John Duffy have already disembarked the ship.

[skilly56]

The bosun & the Kiwi 3rd officer were the final crew off the ship - about December 6th from memory.

The last crew inter-departmental competition was held on the snow at the Dubai Snow Planet. No broken legs resulted!

Skilly

[June Ingram]

Thanks very much, Skilly, for letting us know who were the final crew off of QE2.  The photos are great but the flags she is flying look out of place.  The Dubai Snow Planet is amazing.  I can't even imagine all of that inside.

In regard to the engineering department, how was QE2 shut down (what steps) when she arrived in Dubai and the signal "Finished with Engines" was given ?

June   

[Douglas Carmichael]

Wouldn't most of the systems be left online, and just the propulsion motors be turned off?

[skilly56]

She arrived alongside as if arriving at a usual brief port stay. Just take the propulsion gennies out of the loop and shut the extra engines down, leaving one running to cover the ships load. Of course, once the pax were off, the galley loads dropped, and also the F.W. demands dropped dramatically. 1,000 tons of F.W. daily was suddenly no longer required! Nothing was out of the ordinary, except for the nostalgia of the moment for the crew who were leaving for the last time.

When you spend a decade or two on one particular ship you get very comfortable with the environment. Day-to-day running throws up few surprises when you know the job well, and if something very out-of-the-ordinary does happen, then one's good knowledge of the particular vessel really helps you make the correct decisions to overcome the problem.

The Australian offshore oil & gas industry is collapsing because of the massive drop in oil prices, so the Kiwi engineers like me who used to work over there on a fly-in/fly-out basis are no longer being called on. I was going to retire, but have been asked to rejoin the 37-year-old Dundee-built bulk cement carrier that I spent 12 years on when it was brand new. This ship has been with one company since the keel was laid on 4th May 1978 (it was actually financed by Blue Circle Cement of London, who owned the NZ operation back then). Going back to this ship has been like pulling on one's favourite slippers. Everyone is happy - lots of laughter - the ship works hard and never stops - it's a good environment, and knowing the ship well makes the job enjoyable.
Every 5 years since I left the vessel in 1990, I have gone back to this ship to overhaul the engine & propeller control systems, so have kept in touch with the people on board. But when it is sold off at the end of next year, it will be the end of an era for the company and the crew, many of whom have been on the ship for more than 20 years. It will be very much a duplication of the atmosphere surrounding the handing over of the QE2.
I bet the Chinese-built replacement will not last 40 years!

Skilly

[Brandon Sterkel]

December 7, 2008. All Cunard crew and personnel have left the ship. The ship is now in the complete hands of Dubai World.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

This may be the moment to re-read what Michael wrote about leaving QE2 24 hours after the handover :

   https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,1253.0.html

"The ship was gone"....

[June Ingram]

Thanks, Isabelle, for bringing Michael's description of leaving QE2 to our attention.  It is very moving.