Fans, passengers and former staff members who contacted Arabian Business through the www.TheQE2Story.com website.
Former QE2 engineer, Rod Fair “I cannot for the life of me understand why this magnificent ship is sitting there rotting, AND costing somebody a fortune, when it could well be elsewhere being useful!”
Isabelle Prondzynski, frequent QE2 traveller and enthusiast: “I cannot understand what economic sense it can possibly make to leave QE2 to rot in obscurity. Were she accessible, even just to walk around, I would have visited her several times already. Bring her to a place where she can earn her keep and we can enjoy her once more! Dubai as a city has a reputation to safeguard. It is not enough to buy the most famous ocean liner in the world, if she is then to rot in obscurity. A prestige object must be shown off at its best to be effective. If QE2 is left to perish, one way or another, it is also the good reputation of Dubai that will suffer. QE2 has fans and former crew members all over the world.”
Louis
De Sousa, former crew member: “Back in 2008 I
already believed that the best for QE2 was to be sent to the breakers. Today six years on it
angers me that such a icon is treated this way. My plea to the owners is look after her or put
her out of this misery. A note please to the present on board crew: they have no blame on
the ship’s status at present as they are working on a low budget. A big thank you to
them for working under so harsh conditions.”
Bob Conway: “The value of QE2 lies far beyond her price. She is literally the last of the classic liner lineage and a ship that bridged the end of traditional transatlantic service and modern day cruising. She served both her country and previous owners well and if her current owners understood this, she would not be languishing where she is and has been for the last six long years. Preserve her, revive her or scrap her but do not let her rot in Dubai any longer.”
Rosie Claxton: “We must be grateful for the early years in Dubai when her owners and treated QE2 extremely well – what happened after December 2012? Something changed and this surely is cause for our concern.”
Lynda Bradford, QE2 passenger from Clydebank: “QE2 will always be in my heart and mind as I think about how from her birth on Clydeside to leaving Southampton in 2008 she became the most famous ship in the world. We all know that Dubai’s original plans had to be put on hold because of economic reasons. However, a couple of years ago the prospect of “Project QE2 London”, raised our hopes that the ship could return to home waters, but this was not to be. The question for me will always be why, especially as Dubai’s plans have not come to fruition. Maintenance appears to have been reduced since ships crew were removed and concerns have been raised that the condition of QE2 could have deteriorated. It is not looking good for the QE2 and she deserves better than what is happening to her in Dubai!
June Ingram “QE2, the charismatic ship who has endeared herself to so many during her illustrious, nearly forty year career during peace and war, now languishes, held captive, alone, and uncared for in Dubai Dry Docks. She is not being treated with the respect and care she deserves, being the object of so much affection and being the historic icon that she is. QE2 arrived in Dubai amid much celebration, only to be put aside as their economy foundered. If Dubai have no plans to care for QE2 in the manner to which she is accustomed, they should release her to a company or organization that will. Dubai allowing QE2 to deteriorate for six years is a travesty and an act without conscience.”
Alan Snelson, former photographer on board: “QE2 was for many years the most famous ship in the world. Wherever in the world I travelled on her I only had to say “QE2” to any taxi driver and I would be taken straight there. Now she is suffering the ultimate indignity of being hidden away in an industrial dockyard and seems to be being left to wither away. A great many people in Dubai don’t even seem to realise she is still there! If no viable plan can be put in place by her current owners then they should be able to release her to someone who can save her before the damage is irreversible. It is clear that she will never be able to sail again as a passenger vessel without massive changes to her interior spaces. She is never going to pose a commercial threat to other passenger ships so why is it presenting such a problem to find a suitable home and use for this iconic vessel which is so significant in British and global maritime history?
Marc-Antoine Bombail, auther of QE2 books: “The Queen Elizabeth 2 has to be preserved for future generations because she is a vision of majesty, power, luxury and elegance with no equivalent in today’s shipping world. She’s not just a famous ship, she’s a monument. Not just a moving object but a place loved and cherished by thousands of people through the years, probably more than any other ship in the world. To let QE2 rot away or get scrapped would be a supremely uncivilized outrage. What is happening to her since 2008 is just nonsense. I still hope Dubai will eventually find the amount of inspiration and courage (not just money) required to preserve QE2 in a sustainable and creative manner, like the Americans did with Queen Mary, the Dutch with Rotterdam and the Japanese with Hikawa Maru. Even if this means sending her to London, where a smart and exciting project is ready for her. She deserves such a positive, innovative and realistic project at long last. And so does her loyal following worldwide.”
Hank Hargrove, QE2 Enthusiast: “I am sad that nothing is happening with the QE2. I want a positive development for the QE2, not inaction and decay. She is a British icon and a treasure and should be treated as such.”
Myles Devin, frequent passenger on board – “Dubai, You bought a legend, and now you sit with an object of such fame, Now you seem hell bent on doing as little as possible to do anything remotely like what you had planned. OK so perhaps times change, but adapt and move forward, I believe absolutely nothing of what you tell us any more, and by God you don’t tell us much. We are told this is how you do things in your country, well if it is, it sure aint working. There are out there a little band of followers who care about this great ship, give us perhaps some respect, before we give up completely and abandon all hope of any future plans or dreams of any notions you may (or even may not) hold for Queen Elizabeth 2.”
Click here to see a gallery of images of the QE2 in Dubai’s Port Rashid
For more updates and information on the QE2 click here.
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