Newsstand - QE2 New Owners Plan To Cut Ship In Two

QE2 new owners plan to cut ship in two for future role as Dubai hotel

Jan 12 2009

THE QE2 will be cut in half for its conversion into a floating hotel in Dubai.

Radical plans will see a 100ft extension inserted into the Clyde-built Cunard cruise liner in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Experts yesterday savaged the scheme by new owners QE2 Enterprises.

Maritime historian Mick Lindsay said: "The new owners said how proud they were to own QE2 but this just shows their complete and utter disrespect for the liner that was once the most famous in the world."

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk...ole-as-dubai-hotel-86908-21034591/

:mad: :td: :mad:

QE2 new owners plan to cut ship in two for future role as Dubai hotel

Jan 12 2009

THE QE2 will be cut in half for its conversion into a floating hotel in Dubai.

Radical plans will see a 100ft extension inserted into the Clyde-built Cunard cruise liner in Bremerhaven, Germany.:mad: :td: :mad:

Let's face reality, folks. The alternatives are ghastly deconstruction aground on some filthy beach near Karachi (or a more glamorous fate as razor blades?). Fate as a hotel ain't so bad, and if 100' of plug midships is the worst debasement/defacement she'll have to endure, she'll endure.


Experts yesterday savaged the scheme by new owners QE2 Enterprises.

Maritime historian Mick Lindsay said: "The new owners said how proud they were to own QE2 but this just shows their complete and utter disrespect for the liner that was once the most famous in the world."


http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk...ole-as-dubai-hotel-86908-21034591/

:mad: :td: :mad:


QE 2 was the most famous in the world? That's a stretch. She's a ship, and ships live in the memory of those who sailed in them, immutable fragments of history.

...QE 2 was the most famous in the world? That's a stretch. She's a ship, and ships live in the memory of those who sailed in them, immutable fragments of history.

Saying she was the most famous ship in the world is a stretch? Hardly. Certainly more pople in the world recognized the name QE2 than any other passenger, naval or merchant ship since 1969. For those too young to remember life before the latest Carnival Monstrosity or Bombast of the Seas., recall that QE2 was the largest passenger ship in the world for decades. For a while it seemed as though she would be the last of the great liners.

Ships are usually well known for their tragic fates or historic roles, than for their mundane life going from place to place.

I was disturbed to read the news - but that was because I figured it would get something 'more Dubai' than just a little stretch! :p

QE 2 was the most famous in the world? That's a stretch. She's a ship, and ships live in the memory of those who sailed in them, immutable fragments of history.
I disagree as well. I think she is the most famous ship in the world - at least in modern times. Here's an experiment - ask ten of your colleagues to name the first cruise liner that comes to their mind, and I bet you at least seven will name the QE2.

She's famous, mate.

I disagree as well. I think she is the most famous ship in the world - at least in modern times. Here's an experiment - ask ten of your colleagues to name the first cruise liner that comes to their mind, and I bet you at least seven will name the QE2.

She's famous, mate.

I did. Everybody said "Titanic" first. When I asked to limit themselves to modern ships, everybody said "Queen Mary".....

Concorde and the QE2 are my favourite 2Oth Century passenger/civilian transport icons.

Now we have the A380 and the Queen Mary 2 to replace them. I think we have gone a step backwards, or even many.

If any FTers in Dubai could tell me if QE2 is still berthed in the same place where they put her at Port Rashid after the final cruise, I would be very thankful for that. :)

This was the last I saw her 3 days after her arrival Dubai. :-(
Then I had to leave. I have not any idea if she is still there.

Well.. I understand the objections... but am on the side of preferring survival (even with a plug) than scrapping..

On the "size" question.... being ex-Navy I've always thought the measure used for passenger ships was a bit of a scam..;)

"Gross Tonnage".. where every 100 cubic feet of enclosed space = 1 GR ton

Wonder how the Carnival "giants" (and the classic liners too) would compare using Displacement..an actual measure of weight..:D

OK it appears QE2 displaces 48,900 tons - Can't find a displacement figure for Carnivals Freedom of the Seas (various websites quote it at 160,000.. but that IS GRT...).. by looking at other modern cruise ships I'd hazard a guess that her displacement is about 80,000 tons.. very similar to the QM2.... BIG!!!! :D

...also wonder how the new Cruise ships would go on the rough winter routes that the real Liners (like the "Queens") coped with without drama... (Transatlantic certainly.... UK-Australia anyone? :D)

Interestingly the older liners had displacements much closer to their GRT than the modern ships do... I wonder if this can be used as a (very rough) rule-of-thumb for determining true OCEAN-worthiness? (probly not but an interesting thought?)

The modern ones are also significantly slower.... 20 knots or so....(and yes I realise that is fine for their designed purpose.. we are of course not really comparing apples with apples!)

Just as an idle thought, which ship currently holds the Blue Riband? I believe QE2 did hold it for a while...

I did. Everybody said "Titanic" first. When I asked to limit themselves to modern ships, everybody said "Queen Mary".....
Really? Wow - I wouldn't have thought. Your colleagues are clearly under the age of 60. :D

Note: I am also well under the age of 60.

Well I still think she's the most famous ship in the world. ;)

Just as an idle thought, which ship currently holds the Blue Riband? I believe QE2 did hold it for a while...As far as real liners go, it's the SS United States (http://ssunitedstatesconservancy.org/SSUS/Home.html), which set the records in 1952 and which still holds the Westbound record. Details here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Riband).

Usual comments about the end of an era. The QE2 would have gone to the breakers with the current economic climate. She is better off where she is and likely better off that her elder sister Queen Mary who is stuck in Long Beach.

My souvenir of the QE2 is my memories of traveling on her when I way young and slim.

Really? Wow - I wouldn't have thought. Your colleagues are clearly under the age of 60. :D

Note: I am also well under the age of 60.

Well I still think she's the most famous ship in the world. ;)

Admittedly, they were mostly over 60, but of the dozen folks I asked, none mentioned QE2..... One couldn't name her, but mentioned the "liner the Brits used for the Falklands". The old QM drew two responses, probably because she's remained visible on the Long Beach horizon so long.

QE 2's relative fame suffered for being too late for the mission for which she was primarily designed, TATL, and really behind the times in layout and features for a short cruise liner.

For me, having as a young naval officer been sent with working parties to unload mail from the old QM and the QE(1) in New York during a strike, then having seen both of them at sea in the North Atlantic, QE 2 was aways sort of a diminished follow-on. Was she the largest? Didn't the ex-FRANCE remain in cruise service for many years, larger at least in displacement, if not GRT, an inflated measurement which gives the current breed of cruise ships prestige greater than their real size. They appear awkwardly top heavy, superstructures all out of proportion to hull size, pleasure pagodas likely to be both uncomfortable and even dangerous in anything but placid sea states.

Most famous? I first went aboard her in 1962 when she was new, and later spent two weeks aboard. She's still in service, and no less impressive today, the Lady with 8 teakettles, ENTREPRISE (CVN-65), perhaps a bit nationalistic, but the first and still famous.

For appearance, it would be hard to match the graceful low UNITED STATES, the fastest of her breed, and certainly the most beautiful "at sea". The old QM was a better looking ship underway than the QE. The QM's dummy third funnel provided a needed symmetry. I recall just how dirty and archaic QM seemed in early '63 (with QE not much better). Outside the public spaces, she had been let go to rack, ruin, rubbish and rust.

One couldn't name her, but mentioned the "liner the Brits used for the Falklands".
Canberra

I understand she will be moved and going into Dubai dry docks tomorrow?

Can anybody in Dubai confirm?

It's easy. Just see if she is moved tomorrow. She is easy to spot from the Gold Souk and other places nearby. If she is no longer there by tomorrow night it means they moved her.

They plan to take the engines and the funnel off while she is in dry dock. I guess they will have to start with an inspection at first.

Then she is supposed to be going to Bremenhaven for the slicing. I find it hard to believe that they are going to tow her all the way there and back.

Using undersea tugs?

:mad:

Cutting it in half and adding an extra 100 Feet to it! This is Dubai we are talking about. They could have just as easily added 1/2 a mile to it, five more storeys, a ski slope, shooting range, couple of golf courses, life size Eiffel Tower and a STOL runway. Oh, and gold plate the eff out of it.

Ships are usually well known for their tragic fates or historic roles, than for their mundane life going from place to place.

I was disturbed to read the news - but that was because I figured it would get something 'more Dubai' than just a little stretch! :p

Like sticking it on top of the Burj Dubai? That would be very Dubai. Biggest ship on top of biggest building.

I suspect they are doing it to reduce their insurance payments. Cut in half, it's going to be a lot harder for some Somali pirates to hijack it. :p

Add: I have some great pictures of the QE2. In the early 80's, soon after it returned to passenger service with the post Falklands grey paint, it stopped at FLL for a couple of hours on a round the world trip. I was out driving a friend's borrowed 16 ft. outboard nearby and decided to go get some close up pictures as it was docked. I went up to about 50 ft. from the stern and floated alongside the QE2 taking pictures. I was the only boat moving in the harbor. It never occurred to me to consider if this was "allowed" back then. Kids, don't try this at home! It's a Post 9/11 World. For some reason small speedboats with a sole driver moving next to major ships is considered a No No these days aka DHS Target Practice Material.

Maybe because my family and I spent so much time on board QEII in the 70s and 80s, but I would agree that for today's generation, she is the best known luxury liner to have sailed the seas.

And what a damned fine liner she was, in the tradition of luxury at its highest.

Today's ships, on which I also have sailed numerous times, are simply expensive mass transportation. The QG and PQ on the QEII far outshine those same restaurants on the QMII and QV. And I expect nothing better of the new QE to be launched by Cunard next year; she will be nice, but still not stand up to the traditions of the QEII.

Cutting it in half and adding an extra 100 Feet to it! This is Dubai we are talking about. They could have just as easily added 1/2 a mile to it, five more storeys, a ski slope, shooting range, couple of golf courses, life size Eiffel Tower and a STOL runway. Oh, and gold plate the eff out of it.

:eek:

[exactly - I am semi-shocked that it's a BLING-free stretch!]

kevinsac, you are 100% right on the new Cunarders. I would not call QM2 a liner QV even less. The newly coming QE will be very much like QV :-( Not a liner just a cruise ship.

From what I have heard as of today, QE2 is still docked in the same place at Port Rashid. No sign of moving. :) :-:

I thought that the most famous ship was the Pacific Princess, aka The Love Boat!! :D:D:D