Well, this has to be the biggest ship-related news in years!
Today Cunard announced that Queen Elizabeth 2 has been sold to Dubai World, the investment arm of the Dubai government, which will turn her into a tourist attraction at The Palm Jumeriah in Dubai, the world’s largest man-made island.
QE2 will leave the Cunard fleet in November 2008 after which she will be refurbished before opening as a “luxury floating hotel, retail and entertainment destination” in 2009.
Interestingly, Cunard’s press release states that “[Dubai World subsidiary] Istithmar said its refurbishment programme will aim to recreate QE2’s original interior décor and fittings.” Personally, if done well, that is something I would certainly welcome after years of ill-conceived refits by Cunard. Of course, it remains to be seen whether it will be done well, but if it isn’t I think we can safely say that lack of funds will not be the problem.
While I am sad to see QE2 go so soon, I am preliminarily pleased with this news - if nothing else, Dubai has a great climate for preserving old ships, and the money to do it right. If anyone can pull it off, they should be able to.
You can read the full press release from Cunard here. No press release has been posted on the Dubai World web site.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.