# QE2 to go for scrap



## G0SLP

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...onic-cruise-liner-sold-scrap-Chinese-20m.html

I guess that it was inevitable. Sad though.

Mark


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## 5036

Sad indeed. The rumours have gathered pace in the last few weeks with bids being invited to tow an unspecified large liner from Dubai to China following the night of the long knives in the Isithmar (World) boardroom and amalgamations withNakheel. Basically, the Dubai dream has collapsed. The timing is also relevant with the Christmas/New Year holiday season ideal to reduce criticism and outrage from her fan base and covering the failures of the venture and its embarrassment to the Dubai rulers.


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## cueball44

Some say the British £20 million offer was not good enough, due to planning permission that would take 12 months to agree on. They were not prepared to wait that long, so took the £20 million cash up front from China.


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## billyboy

It will make a nice troopship for them then...LOL


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## Donald McGhee

Another of the Clyde built liners (one of, if not the last) going to an inglorious end. I well remember her on the slip at John Browns when I sailed with Donaldsons, heading down river. I used to wave to my cousin who worked at Weirs Pumps nearby and would be allowed to give a blast as we sailed by. She was a lovely ship, sad to her go.


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## kevin morgan

My first deep-sea at a tender 17yo -1979


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## Dickyboy

To be honest, I can't see what all the fuss is about, if there is a fuss. Another Liner coes to the breakers. She did a fine job, but her time is up. She won't leave much in the way of a mark on maritime history in the long term methinks.


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## Stephen J. Card

I hear from Stephen Payne this morning that the story is she is heading to Singapore to become a hotel not for scrap.


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## A.D.FROST

I doubt she will be cut up(its another Chinese two fingers to the decadent West)and shipped back to us as razor blades? It could teach them on how to build a proper Liner and not just a replica of a one that sank!


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## Cisco

Most likely a replacement for 'Oriana' - the torch would be kinder .


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## R58484956

She cost £650k a month to maintain. 20 Chinese joined last week


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## David Wilcockson

What about the Chinese re-activating her?!? In one form or another, unless the sale is on condition that she is broken up.
Cheers,
David


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## ninabaker

She's old. Nothing lasts forever, least of all ships. I know a guy who travels the world fixing aircon and so on on ships and know he has been out to her several times in the past few years and he told me that the facilities, power systems etc were in a very poor way having been not well installed in the first place.

Another pal who runs a ship preservation trust told me that modern steel ships are in some ways actually harder to keep watertight than historic woodenwalls.


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## 5036

David Wilcockson said:


> What about the Chinese re-activating her?!? I one form or another, unless the sale is on condition that she is broken up.
> Cheers,
> David


What a lovely idea David but a major problem lies in her original construction where her aluminium superstructure was welded to her steel deck without the ability to cope with differential expansion. The MAIB had given her dispensation for quite some time until they could no longer sanction her cracking problems and called time on her. I was surprised that she was taken to Dubai where the temperature range can be extreme even although she was essentially static. Her future as a sea going liner was removed in her 40th incredible year.

She is a fighter. Running aground on her final approach to Southampton and breaking her moorings in a sandstorm very recently, she doesn't give up without a fight and attracting attention to herself. A true primadonna.


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## David Wilcockson

nav
Thanks for the information, I wasn`t aware of the MAIB dispensation.
Cheers,
David


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## Peter Eccleson

If the old girl goes to scrap.....let her end come quick and respectful. Her memories, like her predecessors, will live on.


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## john g

ninabaker said:


> She's old. Nothing lasts forever, least of all ships. I know a guy who travels the world fixing aircon and so on on ships and know he has been out to her several times in the past few years and he told me that the facilities, power systems etc were in a very poor way having been not well installed in the first place.
> 
> Another pal who runs a ship preservation trust told me that modern steel ships are in some ways actually harder to keep watertight than historic woodenwalls.


Its not surprising the power systems were not well installed I don't know how a vessel can be re engined in a fixed time and there not be short cuts, are there ant ex QE2 engineers out there who can make a comment ?


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## China hand

Better scrapped than left to be a fairground attraction. Oldish ship, done her job, time to go. Life goes on.


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## Barrie Youde

#13

Anent Nina's comment about old timber being perhaps less difficult to maintain than old steel (and going seriously off-thread at the same time), I have a friend who is a retired civil engineer and county surveyor, with specific responsibility for highways and bridges and the maintenance thereof. He once observed that the bridges which require the least maintenance of all are those ancient stone bridges which have stood the test of time; and require virtually no maintenance.

There's a moral there, somewhere!

HNY to all.


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## Ian Harrod

Stone ships? Worth trying.


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## Rob Pithers

Well they made them of concrete quite successfully, so why not?


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## Pompeyfan

For those of you not members of Cruises & Cruising here on SN, this may interest you that I have just posted http://maritimematters.com/2013/01/qe2-in-london-2013/


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## Duncan112

"And possibly incorporate the supersonic Concorde plane" so were going to get a rerun of QM1 and the Spruce Goose - the dome even looks like the structure erected to house the Hughes H-4!! 

Pray tell though, which museum is going to release their prime visitor attraction?

I think this one will go the way of the Titanic replicas. The thought of a vessel sitting on the bottom in a river with a tidal range of around 7m is interesting


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## Stephen J. Card

Perfect location for a MERCHANT NAVY MUSEUM.

Also a good location for the annual SN Pis*up!


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## frangio

On my first ship I went to Hong Kong and there saw some of the remains of the Queen Elizabeth. Fast forward about 20 years and I was in Long Beach and saw the Queen Mary. I remember thinking that maybe the Elizabeth got a better end!

If she can't be used as a ship any more better she has a dignified end than become a Tourist Attraction.


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## ART6

It seems to me that every time an old ship that has outlived its time but has done something to imprint itself in the public nostalgia folder, there is an appeal that it should be preserved for posterity. Old warships that had a distinguished career, old liners that won Blue Ribands, Old merchantmen that wandered the seas with engines and living conditions that would be unacceptable to any sensible seafarer nowadays. The difficulty I have is that most of the appeals seem to come from those who never sailed in them or, indeed, in any ship. If we are to preserve every vessel that creates a surge of nostalgia, then sooner or later there will be nowhere to dock the new generation! Who will pay to visit them? Tourists who have no idea what they are looking at and who will soon forget that they were ever there other than a few snaps in an envelope that will never be looked at?

Ships are machines built by humans to serve humans. Like the aging family car, they outlive their time. I can think of at least one that I sailed in where I would have happily taken an oxy-torch to it after it tried to kill me a couple of times! Forget them and move on. For a hundred years now there have been more than adequate photographic archives to record them. Those records don't require maintenance or docks or tourists to pay for their upkeep. It's like historical buildings -- everyone wants to preserve them but no-one wants to live in them.

If the QE2 ends up shaving Pierre in a salon in Paris, so what? It's steel, and with a bit of luck and a following wind it might cut his throat and resolve an historical enmity!
(Jester)


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## R58484956

Cunard stated today that "It was complete speculation that QE2" was going for scrap to China" What about the Chinese crew that have gone onboard. ?
Perhaps a cheaper maintenance crew.


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## howardws

ART6 said:


> The difficulty I have is that most of the appeals seem to come from those who never sailed in them or, indeed, in any ship.
> 
> Ships are machines built by humans to serve humans. Like the aging family car, they outlive their time.
> (Jester)


Hear, hear! Witness the outpouring of grief that accompanied the Pride of Dover to the breakers last month. Mainly from people who have no concept of what it is like to keep ageing machinery running day after day or the massive cost of just keeping the thing afloat!


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## Jeff Taylor

Just a few observations...there are only about 20 Chinese hands vs roughly 35 from V Ships and most of her lights are reportedly off now. Economizing, and less maintenance suggests they don't plan to have her much longer. It was reportedly costing roughly GBP 500,000 per month in bunkers and salaries before. But, as has been previously posted Cunard/Carnival apparently has the right to approve further resale of the ship, and their former Chief Naval Architect Stephen Payne has been quoted as saying that she wasn't going to China for scrap but rather for hotel/casino duty. I wouldn't plan any funerals yet.


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## Pompeyfan

It is being reported that QE2 is to be saved by Asian investors in a joint venture set to be signed today. I understand the investors are the Singapore based Oceanic Group. It is thought she will become a floating hotel in either Singapore or Hong Kong.


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## Degzie

see that The QE2 has moved into a drydock in Dubai. you don't normally dry dock a ship when it has been rumoured she has been sold for scrap!
Degzie


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## Pompeyfan

Link here http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2013/01/17/42837/qe2+saved+by+asian+investors.html


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## Degzie

Found this on the Oceanic Group’s web site
*QE2 - a 5-star Floating Hotel*

On 17 January 2013, in Port Rashid, Dubai, Oceanic Group unveiled its plans to transform the QE2 into a luxurious floating five-star hotel, securing its long-term future and extending the iconic ship’s legacy to new generations in Asia.
Under Oceanic Group’s innovative concept, QE2, “The Most Famous Ocean Liner in the World”, will become a destination tourist attraction. She will offer 400 luxuriously appointed, European-style rooms and suites, gourmet cuisine, over 100,000 square feet of retail shopping, a QE2-themed museum, exhibition space, as well as a grand ballroom and many other amenities that will make it the perfect venue for special events, corporate functions and weddings. 
The QE2 is a global legend. She has carried over 2.5 million passengers, who have come to regard her as synonymous with luxury, elegance and exclusivity. Now, loyal fans of QE2 will be delighted to hear that she is beginning a new journey as a floating 5-star hotel, the first in Asia-Pacific. 
As a luxury hotel, the QE2 will take her place alongside the great heritage hotels of Asia, including the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, the Peace Hotel in Shanghai, the Grand Hotel in Taipei and the Rex Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. She will add a new level of luxury accommodation without the need for land, and become an iconic tourist attraction to complement Asia’s already famous waterfronts.
The QE2 is an awe-inspiring ship with a rich history. The onboard experience will bring visitors back to her grand old days as the queen of the seas. Whether guests stay, dine or host events aboard the QE2, they will be guaranteed an utterly unique experience and memories to last a lifetime.

http://www.theoceanicgroup.com/emp/emp2013/en/qe2hotels.php

Degzie


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## Degzie

Another link to QE 2 hotels

http://www.qe2hotels.com/new/www/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/c...08062/QE2-to-be-saved-by-Asian-investors.html

Degzie


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## 5036

I would like to see them restore the original iconic funnel restored, it was far more elegant than later fit.


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## Stephen J. Card

nav said:


> I would like to see them restore the original iconic funnel restored, it was far more elegant than later fit.



Parts of the original funnel are still there! The forward portions of the red casing is original as are the wind scoops either side. Only the black uptake and the red filler piece at the back end of the funnel are new.


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## Stephen J. Card

QE2 shifted by tugs today and is now in Dubaai drydock.


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## 5036

Stephen J. Card said:


> Parts of the original funnel are still there! The forward portions of the red casing is original as are the wind scoops either side. Only the black uptake and the red filler piece at the back end of the funnel are new.


I never realised that, thanks. Satanic Mechanic's newfound hacksaw skills could come in useful cutting it down to its original size.


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## Davesdream

She not going for scrap.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/cruise-news/9808062/QE2-saved-by-Asian-investors.html

She has been saved. 

Regards


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## andysk

Davesdream said:


> She not going for scrap.
> 
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/cruise-news/9808062/QE2-saved-by-Asian-investors.html
> 
> She has been saved.
> 
> Regards


But where ?

Peter Knego says Hong Kong (http://maritimematters.com/2013/01/qe2-in-london-2013/ - see his comment of yesterday towards the bottom of the page)


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## ART6

Hopefully she won't suffer the same fate as her ancestor:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Elizabeth


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