QE2 arrives in her final home, Dubai

by Jeni Bone on 27 Nov 2008
With more than 10,000,000 miles under her belt (or should that be bilge?), and having hosted around 2.5 million passengers in her 41 years, the cruise liner Queen Elizabeth 2 was welcomed to its final destination of Dubai yesterday, Wednesday 26 November.

It will now undergo refit work which will transform it into a luxurious floating hotel to be moored at the Palm Jumeirah complex.

The QE2, which sailed on its last voyage from its former home port of Southampton in England, was greeted by a large flotilla of private craft including the giant yacht My Dubai, owned by the emirate's ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum.

UAE coast guards and the Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster were among those escorting the liner into Mina Rashed port. A fire boat hosed water skywards to salute her, and an Emirates superjumbo A380 made a low flypast. Hundreds of passengers who travelled on the final voyage stood on the deck of the 70,000-tonne QE2, waving British flags.

'This is a magnificent tourist attraction,' said Johann Schumacher, the managing director of Palm Jumeirah, adding that the refit is expected to take up to three years.

The liner will eventually be tugged to a special pier on Palm Jumeirah, about 20kms from Mina Rashed.

US cruise operator Cunard sold the QE2 for about 50 million pounds (67 million euros, 99 million dollars) in November last year to Istithmar, the investment arm of state-owned company Dubai World.

Today, the ceremonial flag changing took place, and Cunard will officaly hand over the ownership of QE2 to Nakheel, a branch of Dubai World.

Launched by her namesake in September 1967, the QE2 was Cunard's longest-serving ship. The 963-feet- (294-metre) long ship can carry up to 1,778 passengers and more than 1,000 crew.

She has travelled 5.5 million nautical miles, the equivalent of to the moon and back 13 times, and has undertaken 25 world cruises, crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times.