SCRAPPING QE2.

[Captain Kong]

Read more: End of an era for the QE2: Iconic cruise liner sold as scrap to Chinese for £20m | Mail Online
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QE2 to be sold for scrap to Chinese for £20,million.
That is a crime, it should have been brought back to Britain,
On board that ship are millions of pounds of Artifacts, including a huge memorial to the Falklands War Dead.
The pop stars of Liverpool could have bought it between them and moored it in front of the Cunard Buildings in a Lagoon like the Queen Mary in Long Beach, it would have made a fortune for Liverpool and created a couple of thousand jobs.
A lovely ship, I did a few world cruises on her and is far superior than the new Cunard ships.
Cheers
Brian

[Jim Brady]

Imagine how many new builds will be built from the "scrap".
Regards.
Jim.B.

[robpage]

The running costs are over £6,000,000 a year just to sit it mothballed in Dubai , conversion would cost upwards of £20,000,000 , the thousand rooms ( Dubai World's plan as a Hotel ) if filled would generate at 70% occupancy 365 x 1000 x £100 a night x 0,7 running occupancy allow a around £3,600,000 in profit ( 10% nett on turn over ) , and would not cover the operating costs . To be a viable proposition this would need a Charity to put £10,000,000 a year in to cover conversion and operation costs , I just do not see it happening , I think the Queen Mary in Long Beach was the last of this type of venture we will ever see . If we stopped subsidising India and the Moslem brotherhood in Syria then we might just scrape the money up , but that is never going to happen , regardless of whoever our government is . I don't see the Merseyside councils , or Southampton , ever getting their heads around this . London was the only hope , and if they are stalling regarding access roads , and planning permission , that spells to me a stall whilst they scrape up the money . Dubai World will have lost well over £60,000,00 on this and now obviously want to cut their losses , as soon as possible


Sad but I would rather see it go now that rot away tied to a foreign quay

[Captain Kong]

Thanks Rob,
But I would like to see those artifacts and the Falklands War memorial removed first, and returned to Britain.
Cheers
Brian.

[robpage]

As I was not sure what they were , I looked them up on Wikipedia

The Queen Elizabeth 2 holds pieces of artwork, as well as maritime artefacts drawn from Cunard's long history of operating merchant vessels.
In the Mauretania Restaurant sits Althea Wynne's sculpture of the White Horses of the Atlantic Ocean.^[97] There are bronze busts of both Sir Samuel Cunard (outside the Yacht Club) and Queen Elizabeth II (in the Queen's Room). The Princess Grill holds four life-size statues of human forms representing the four elements, done by sculptor Janine Janet in marine materials like shell and coral. The Chart Room's frieze was designed by Brody Nevenshwander, and depicts the words of T. S. Eliot, Sir Francis Drake, and John Masefield. The Midships Lobby holds a solid silver model of the Queen Elizabeth 2 made by Asprey of Bond Street in 1975, that was lost until a photograph was found in 1997 that led to the discovery of the model itself, and its placement on the QE2 in 1999.
In "E" stairway hangs three custom designed tapestries, commissioned from Helena Barynina Hernmarck for the ship's launch, that depict the Queen as well as the launch of the ship. These tapestries, which were originally hung in "D" Stairway, Quarter Deck, outside the Columbia Restaurant, were damaged in 2005, as mentioned in the Service history (above). They were originally made with golden threads; however much of this was lost when they were cleaned incorrectly as part of the 1987 refit.
There are numerous photographs, oils and pastels of members of the Royal Family throughout the vessel, and silver plaques commemorating the visits of every member of the Royal Family, as well as other dignitaries like South African president Nelson Mandela.
Amongst the artefacts on board is a set of antique Japanese armour presented to the QE2 by the Governor of Kagoshima, Japan, during her 1979 world cruise, and a Wedgwood vase presented to the ship by Lord Wedgwood.
Items from previous Cunard ships include a brass relief plaque with a fish motif from the first RMS Mauretania (1906), and an Art Deco bas-relief titled Winged Horse and Clouds, by Norman Foster from RMS Queen Elizabeth. There is also a vast array of Cunard postcards, porcelain, flatware, boxes, linen, and Lines Bros Tri-ang Minic model ships. One of her key pieces is a replica of the figurehead from Cunard's first ship, RMS Britannia, carved from Quebec yellow pine by Cornish sculptor Charles Moore, and presented to the ship by Lloyd's of London. On the Upper Deck sits the silver Boston Commemorative Cup, presented to Britannia by the City of Boston in 1840. This cup was lost for decades until being found in a pawn shop in Halifax, Nova Scotia. On "2" Deck is a bronze entitled Spirit of the Atlantic which was designed by Barney Seale for the secondRMS Mauretania (1938). A large wooden plaque was presented to the QE2 by First Sea Lord Sir John Fieldhouse to commemorate the ship's service as a Hired Military Transport (HMT) in the Falklands War.
There is also an extensive collection of large scale models of Cunard ships throughout the QE2.^[98]
Most of these items were sold by Cunard to Istithmar when they purchased QE2.<sup>[99]

I would have thought Istithmar would have removed them , but wonder what the plans for them are , Cunard obviously hadintended them to remain with the ship , as I understand that the deal included an agreement not to scrap the ship before 2019 at the earliest , which seems to have fallen by the way side</sup>

[Chris Allman]

I have been informed by a fairly reliable source that she is not going to be scrapped. Her management company has been changed to one from Singapore, hence the Chinese crew. Also it is being said that she will become a hotel ship in Asia somewhere. We will have to wait and see, as Confucius says " Even the greatest of whales is helpless in middle of desert kingdom "

[Captain Kong]

Hi Rob,
I have seen all those artefacts, a wonderful display all around the ship.
When she was sold to the Arabs, Nothing could be taken off, they are supposed to be protected,
Everything left as is, not even a knife and fork.
I hope they are returned to Britain.
.
Here are a few of my photos of her when I was cruising on her, just memories now. We did a lot of cruising on her since 1995 to when she was sold in 2008.
Cheers
Brian
......
.
.
.No1, the Queen with all the surviving Captains just before she was sold.
No. 2 Me in the Officers Wardroom with the Bell from the old Franconia of 1922, I used to polish that bell in 1956.
No.3 A service of Rememberence I organised with Captain Ron Warwick over the site of the sinking of the Gloucester Castle, Our Lou Barron survived that and was taken to Singapore as a guest of the Japanese. a family friend, Joe Farnworth, 17 years old, went down with her. Just South of Ascension Island.
No.4 Me on the wheel of QE2 [only pretending] she was on the iron Mike.
No.5 the QE2 entering the locks in Panama for the last time on the last world cruise.2008

[Mick O'Brien]

I hope your right Chris, i have got some happy memories of my time on board her in 74 and 76 i was a winger in the britania restaurant infact she was my first ship.

Merry xmas to all mick.

[Tony Wilding]

The body responsible for allowing Ships to sail refused to extend her time any further because of continual cracking of her Aluminum Superstructure, thats why Cunard retired her, same problem with SS United States.

[Neville Roberts]

the Oriana ,I think was the first ship with an aluminum superstructure.I never heard that it could crack with age . but I guess it took its toll with the constant movement at sea .