QE2 is on the move again at last

Ever since she arrived in Dubai almost two years ago, the dear old QE2 has languished alongside a cargo quay at Port Rashid, overshadowed by two giant cranes. The picture above was taken when I flew over the former Cunard liner in February this year.
Plans to convert the ship into a luxury hotel were put on hold when her new owners had to start counting the dirhams and the dollars as the worldwide recession began to bite. There were reports that the vessel was to be moved to Cape Town to provide accommodation for visitors to this summer’s World Cup, but that came to nothing.
Now I hear that the old girl is on the move again at last. But don’t get too excited; I understand she has been taken to an inner berth – pulled by four tugs – in order to provide more space on the waterfront for visiting cruise ships which are actually carrying passengers. There is still no update on those refurbishment proposals.
QE2 sailed out of Southampton for the final time in an explosion of fireworks on the evening of November 11, 2008. The day began inauspiciously when she briefly ran aground in Southampton Water, but the delay at least enabled her to reach her berth in daylight, and in time for a lunch at which the Duke of Edinburgh was guest of honour.
Since arriving in Dubai and being handed over to new owners Nakheel on November 27, she has been manned by a crew of 38, whose duties include keeping one of her nine diesel engines running at all times to provide power for lighting and air-conditioning.
Her many fans and admirers around the world – some of whom are campaigning for the ship to return to the UK to be preserved in Southampton or on the Clyde, where she was launched in 1967 – have been able to keep an eye on her through the webcams of visiting cruise ships, getting a view like the one below which I shot from the deck of Costa Deliziosa.
Now she has moved that privilege will no longer be available, but they will nevertheless be watching for the next development in the ship’s long and distinguished history.