Dubai's Rashid port will be the new home for the QE2 ocean liner. The ship will be rebuilt into a luxury hotel with 300 rooms and will become part of the Maritime Museum project, which is planned to be built at the terminal.
Such plans were voiced by the state-owned investment company Istithmar World and the trading conglomerate DP World, which manages the port.
A 293-meter-long vessel was purchased in June 2007 from Cunard. The deal amounted to about US $ 100 million. It was planned that it would become one of the central objects of tourist attraction during the development of the man-made island Palm Jumeirah, however, these plans were not destined to come true due to the onset of the financial crisis and falling real estate prices. Since 2011, the 44-year-old QE2 has been moored in the harbor of the port of Rashid.
It is expected that the reconstruction of the liner will take about a year and a half. Istithmar is currently in negotiations with three hotel groups to transfer this property to management. “This is truly a cult vessel with a rich history. Our task is to preserve the“ spirit of the times ”as the main idea of its tourist attraction,” said Sultam Ahmed bin Sulayem, the head of the company.
“Together with the implementation of the plans to organize the Maritime Museum, we will be able to turn Dubai into a leading center for cruise tourism in the Middle East. We see the great potential of the port in this direction,” added Muhammad Al Mulallem, senior vice president and managing director of the DP World conglomerate in the UAE.
It should be noted that the Dubai cruise tourism industry is in a stage of dynamic development. In 2011, the port of Rashid received 108 passenger liners with 396.5 thousand passengers on board. In the first half of 2012, 71 liners with 275 thousand tourists have already arrived here. It is planned that by 2015 the terminal will be able to serve 145 vessels and half a million people.
