Queen Elizabeth 2 sold for scrap.

One of Southampton's most ionic cruiseships, the Queen Elizabeth 2 has been sold for scrap to a Chinese for £20m. The ship left Southampton for the last time in 2008, to become a luxurious hotel in Dubai (U.A.). Cunard sold the ship to Dubai World for it to be used as a 1 000 room hotel at the Pal Jumeirah, a collection of man-made (made by a Belgian Company) in the shape of a palm tree.

The worldwide economic downturn put to pay those plans and the ship had since been moored at Port Rashid with a cost of £650,000 a month to maintain her. It has been claimed a Chinese crew of around 20 boarded the QE2 last week, replacing a crew of 40 who had been working on board.

The anchor of the QE2 has given by Cunard to Southampton, as a gift to commerate the 40 years of service the ship enjoyed from her home port.

The ship had a Royal Rendez-Vous here in our port, Zeebrugge. Together with Queen Victoria, the 19th july 2008.

Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Victoria