Dubai based QE2 may return to Southampton (From Daily Echo)
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Dubai based QE2 may return to Southampton
5:20pm Tuesday 23rd June 2009 in
-
- Exclusive By Gareth Lewis » Business Editor
MYSTERY surrounds an approach for legendary Southampton liner Queen Elizabeth 2 to make a stunning return to her home city.
The Daily Echo has learned from high-placed sources that port bosses have been contacted about the possibility of an astonishing comeback by the Grand Old Lady of the Sea towards the end of the year.
QE2 as she left Southampton for what was believed to be the final time.
It comes less than eight months since she was sold off for £50m to become a luxury hotel in the desert of Dubai with thousands of well-wishers lining Southampton Water to bid her farewell.
It is likely that QE2 would have to sail to Southampton without passengers but it revives the tantalising prospect of the liner sailing with thousands of nostalgic travellers on her traditional transatlantic route to New York, where it is understood approaches have also been made by shipping agents.
Grand plans to convert the former Cunard liner into a luxury five star resort in Dubai have been torpedoed by the global recession, with QE2 now lying in a deserted container berth.
Owner Nakheel, part of the Dubai royal family’s development empire, has been forced to deny consistent rumours that the troubled project could be in jeopardy and ruled out a sale or sending her to the scrapyard.
A spokesman for Nakheel denied the company was behind any plan to send her to Southampton.
However, a senior cruise industry figure told the Daily Echo there were major doubts over Nakheel’s lavish plans and said it would not be insurmountable to return her to service. He added he had heard of plans to run cruises out of Dubai on QE2 and to take her to South Africa.
It would be relatively easy to restore the ship ready for cruising once again and would cost considerably less than Nakheel’s conversion scheme.
Currently she is home to only a skeleton crew of 36 under an eastern European captain and has just one engine running to provide power.
Port owners ABP declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Keith Hamilton
Comments(35)
Big Adam
says...
10:46am Tue 23 Jun 09
n.
Pfft.
AdrianSmith
says...
10:54am Tue 23 Jun 09
Big Adam wrote:Apart from the bit saying port bosses have been approached...
Pie in the sky speculation being passed off by the Echo as serious journalism......agai n. Pfft.
adamello
says...
11:04am Tue 23 Jun 09
they didnt say there was a response though
roblightbody
says...
11:24am Tue 23 Jun 09
Due to her umpteen refits, she still had many years of life ahead of her. Only a large amoun1t of money from Dubai stopped her career short.
Condor Man
says...
11:35am Tue 23 Jun 09
My dad went to the Clyde with Vospers to fit out the QE2 in 1967 so it holds a special place in my heart.
allsaintsnocurves
says...
12:18pm Tue 23 Jun 09
Linesman
says...
12:22pm Tue 23 Jun 09
AdrianSmith wrote:Where were they approached?
Big Adam wrote: Pie in the sky speculation being passed off by the Echo as serious journalism......agai n. Pfft.Apart from the bit saying port bosses have been approached...
Derby Road?
Shoong
says...
1:00pm Tue 23 Jun 09
snapperdownunder
says...
1:08pm Tue 23 Jun 09
King Mush
says...
1:15pm Tue 23 Jun 09
allsaintsnocurves wrote:Nice idea but not practical when comparing the two ships.
Why can't we keep the QE2 in Southampton as a tourist attraction. People would pay money to go on board and look round. The HMS Belfast is on the Thames and is regularly used for parties, conferences etc. Southampton CC needs to look at this...maybe this is the Wow factor the city has been looking for!!
HMS Belfast occupies a relatively small berth on the Thames and it's great to see her in commercial use as opposed to being scrapped.
The QE2 is still viable and let's hope for a positive outcome instead of moaning about press speculation.
The Queen Mary is still alive and kicking over at Long Beach but I'm not sure of the finances over the years.
Fingers crossed on this one.
We have the Titanic centenary in 3 years time so we shall see
stmarysmush
says...
1:57pm Tue 23 Jun 09
soton1980
says...
3:45pm Tue 23 Jun 09
Although putting it back on cruises from Southampton to New York again would be fantastic!
Propercynic
says...
4:28pm Tue 23 Jun 09
Stephen J
says...
4:58pm Tue 23 Jun 09
Alicesdad
says...
5:02pm Tue 23 Jun 09
tricky19791
says...
5:18pm Tue 23 Jun 09
RupertLoweIsGod
says...
5:49pm Tue 23 Jun 09
BrixtonSaint
says...
6:23pm Tue 23 Jun 09
The Echo up to it's old tricks again. A smidgen of an idea mentioned by some low level exec as being a viable alternative. Come on Echo, we deserve better than this. Of course it would be great for the old girl to return home but it's never going to happen. If the Arab's don't see it as viable how the hell can SCC? So'ton isn't exactly a tourist hub, no doubt the QE2's return would alleviate that, I for one applaud any chance of her return but this just smacks of the usual Echo biting at a rumor. Come on Echo, you have a responsibility to your local readership, you're not the Sun
Nikki Goff
says...
7:17pm Tue 23 Jun 09
She belongs here
Our martime heritage matters.
By the way Southampton Council, have you noticed how much work Belfast City Council is carrying out on their docks (two historic dry docks restored)plus other projects for the Titanic anniversary.
Too busy thinking of ways to sell our art and poison our water.
jerrye
says...
7:54pm Tue 23 Jun 09
The Dream...
Bring back the ships and transform them into floating hotels and civil ceremony locations, develop royal pier and re-develop town quay with all its empty resturants and bars. create a boardwalk ala san diego and what you will have is a location that will bring millions of visitors into the city tho see the old ships, the new ships and the boardwalk experience bringing the city the shopping and the waterfront together. i struggle to understand how a city that has at its heart the water has so little accessable waterfront and is so keen to ingore its place in history.
Come on southampton. pull your finger out and rather than hide from the opportunity. sieze it and make southampton a city to be proud of for the future, remembering the past.
I would cherise the chance to be involved in any project bringing either of the great BRITISH liners back home and let the world come to us, rather then us go around the world to see these BRITISH ships.
Jerry Egerton
Ocean Pictures
1987-1992
ghedges
says...
9:04pm Tue 23 Jun 09
ences etc, or just allowing people to visit her. She is known the world over and would draw lots of tourists. Here's hoping the Southampton Consortium or someone like Mr Branson could help bring her home?
veracity
says...
9:14pm Tue 23 Jun 09
Stephen J of Fareham hits the nail on the head. Too expensive to pass new solas regs.
fear QE2 may well go same way as canberra/France/Unit
ed states and other iconioc liners
Southampton Cruiser
says...
9:51pm Tue 23 Jun 09
jerrye
says...
10:06pm Tue 23 Jun 09
veracity wrote:no need to do the cruising thing. visitors will come for lunch or overnight stay and weddings/ confrences. hell. it worked in Japan.
Will never happen Stephen J of Fareham hits the nail on the head. Too expensive to pass new solas regs. fear QE2 may well go same way as canberra/France/Unit ed states and other iconioc liners
the United States is still around, just waiting for a use.
jerrye
says...
10:10pm Tue 23 Jun 09
just think how the boat show would look. at last a city scape to be proud of. far better then shelling out money for 'southampton is a necular free city' signs or changing the bulb in the civic center.
what ever happened to the spitfire statue. come on southampton. be proud of who you are. and flaunt it.
WoolstonSean
says...
10:28pm Tue 23 Jun 09
veracity wrote:But the United States is not scrapped!
Will never happen Stephen J of Fareham hits the nail on the head. Too expensive to pass new solas regs. fear QE2 may well go same way as canberra/France/Unit ed states and other iconioc liners
Yes she is in a bad state of disrepair and she is totally gutted internally except for her engine room.
But she languishes at a forelorn pier in Philadelphia where she has been since the early 90s.
She was sold to a Turkish business man who intended to put her back to service in 1992 after already being laid up since 1969 in NewPort News, VA where she was actually built.
She was towed across the Atlantic to a Turkish shipyard. A full conversion was planned but never went ahead even after a total stripping of her interiors in Turkey she had her asbestos removed in the Ukraine in about 1991.
Nothing onboard exists from her former luxurious life as the great blue riband holder of the atlantic, not even the ships wheel.
She us currently up for sale but with so many restrictions put upon any sale she remains as she is. I think her eventual sale will be to the scrapyards at Alang, India along with the forementioned ships you mentioned such as the Canberra and Norway amongst many others.
The QE2 will NOT re enter passenger sevice due to the new SOLAS and if she did she will NEVER be sailing up Southampton Water again!
Fot those of us that saw her off on that cold November evening lets just keep those precious memorys!
I for one have many memorys after being on her for 5 years and my grandfather went upto the Clyde to join her in 1968, he incidently served with Cunard continually including war time service for 51 years.
I was 4yo when I saw her off from the old Ocean Terminal on her maiden voyage with nan & grandad onboard and 43yo when I was on the quay at 38/39 berth crying as she majesticaly departed for the LAST from her home SOUTHAMPTON.
Along with most things, well everything actually, the city council along with the whole nation lost something special on that cold November evening, I somehow think, future generations will asky WHY!
jerrye
says...
7:50am Wed 24 Jun 09
Concord - gone
QE2 - gone
we even let the world believe the Americans invented or discovered most of things the Britsh actually did.
enough of sell out and sell off britan. lets be visably pround of our heritage and make southampton a place for the world to visit.
I was talking to a local luxury taxi firm just the other week and they often get complaints from cruise passangers that they don't know anything about southampton. even to the extent of staying in the airport terminal for four hours before being picked up in time for embarkation as the passangers didn't know what southampton had to offer. the city should be taking a lead in bringing people into the city. hell, even portsmouth do a better job with the tower et al. all we want to do is build more flats and open more shoe shops.
Apostrophe
says...
9:25am Wed 24 Jun 09
roblightbody
says...
12:37pm Wed 24 Jun 09
WoolstonSean
says...
1:59am Fri 26 Jun 09
roblightbody wrote:Cunard had announced at the time of the order for Queen Victoria that QE2 would or could remain in service upto untill 2015 at the latest.
The SOLAS regulations were not a show-stopper for QE2, this is a commonly repeated misconception. This is why Cunard stated they would keep her in service until 2015... until they got that offer from Dubai.
Cunard had deemed the ship technically sound and would go ahead with the alerations for SOLAS during 2010.
But with the expense of doing so just to further her service life by another 5 years it was obvious she would leave the Cunard fleet before the SOLAS came into effect in late 2010.
With the alterations it was felt that the QE2 would have to under go so many changes it would have an effect on her interior spaces.
With the advent of the Queen Victoria, which was always going to be a QE2 replacement, Cunard past and future passengers have a wider of choice of balcony cabins which are now in great demand, something the QE2 severley lacked.
The offer from Dubai was something Cunard could not say no too. The sale helped the balance sheet at Carnival after a year in which the price of oil had hit an all time high.
It also helped out Cunard by not having to make that ultimate decision in perhaps 2015 regarding her future.
After all Nakheel had earlier looked at purchasing the Norway but deemed her unfit for the role intended and therefore approached Cunard.
So in the end the SOLAS and the price of oil at the time of the sale, plus the lack of balconys, etc was a show stopper for QE2.
By the time the Queen Victoria had entered serice it was obvious QE2 would be leaving the fleet well before 2015.
Incidently back in 1965 Cunard sent the old Queen Elizabeth to Clydeside for a major refit to extend her life upto 1972 so she would be a running mate for QE2 when she entered service.
But it was three years later in 1968 that she was withdrawn from Cunard service, life had caught up with her!
I won't go into great detail but the saga of the origional Queen Elizabeth after she was withdrawn looks like it may repeat itself with QE2, but hopefully without the fire!
Ben Doone
says...
8:10am Fri 26 Jun 09
As usual your posts are v informative.
My contacts in the business tell me that on the upper levels the QE2 was top class but the lower deck cabins were struggling to make even 3 star grade. Next year there will again be 3 Cunard 'Queens' (wait for the jokes!!)on the high seas and they will gain their own fan clubs as did 'Canberra', 'Mauretania','Reina del Mar' et al.
My heart would like to see the 'QE2' back in Soton but my head tells me this will never happen, for any number of reasons. Certainly those people blaming the local Council for inertia are very unfair.
If I was a Soton Taxpayer I wouldn't want my money wasted on such a project unless some sort of external funding was available to purchase and, more importantly, maintain the ship for the future
WoolstonSean
says...
11:14pm Fri 26 Jun 09
Ben Doone wrote:Ben
Sean As usual your posts are v informative. My contacts in the business tell me that on the upper levels the QE2 was top class but the lower deck cabins were struggling to make even 3 star grade. Next year there will again be 3 Cunard 'Queens' (wait for the jokes!!)on the high seas and they will gain their own fan clubs as did 'Canberra', 'Mauretania','Reina del Mar' et al. My heart would like to see the 'QE2' back in Soton but my head tells me this will never happen, for any number of reasons. Certainly those people blaming the local Council for inertia are very unfair. If I was a Soton Taxpayer I wouldn't want my money wasted on such a project unless some sort of external funding was available to purchase and, more importantly, maintain the ship for the future
Thank you very much for your comment.
I do try and be as informative as I can without going into too much detail.
I agree with your above comments entirely.
The QE2 was only really top class in her grill room cabins. There was deffiantly a great difference if you were on 3/4/5 decks as these cabins tended to be of odd shapes and size and were deffiantly not 5 star.
Even the dining rooms made a big difference. Even though the Caronia restaurant was splendid it did not compare with the top rated grill rooms which were the Queens, Princess and Britannia grills.
Those passengers who were booked in grill rooms were deffiantly paying for 5 star service but the QE2 had such a loyal following I don't think they really cared as long they knew they were sailing on QE2, that was the thing it was being on her that counted.
It's good to see so many ex QE2 passengers booking the Queen Victoria and with positive feedback. It may be the fact that alot of the QE2 crew including Captain McNaught are now on the Queen Victoria.
I spoke to Captain Mcnaught recently regarding the postion of captain on the new Queen Elizabeth, but he looked up at the Queen Victoria as I asked him and said NO I am happy on her thank you!
josh_drakester
says...
10:40am Sat 27 Jun 09
WoolstonSean
says...
4:25am Sun 28 Jun 09
josh_drakester wrote:Well if it's the red funnel your looking for, you can always watch the QV and QM2 as they carry the traditional red and black funnels!!
Well the chances are changing for her to come back or not, but it would be awseome to see her come sail back down Southampton water with her unique fog horn and red funnel!
There is no chance in hell that your ever see the QE2 sailing up Southampton Water EVER again!
If you looking to hear the horn, try this website.
www.chriscunard.tk/
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Lone Ranger says...
10:40am Tue 23 Jun 09
Shorly it has been de-commissioned and would cost a fortune to reverse that.
No WOW factor there then.