QE2 set for sale?

Julie Gilbert • Published 10 Feb 2010 15:00

The pride of Clydebank - the QE2 - looks set to be sold as its cash-strapped Dubai owners seek to clear billions of pounds of debt.

For the Bankies who worked on the great liner, the move is wrought with anxiety about where the ship might end up but it has also raised hopes that she could be brought back to Scotland.

It has been reported this week that Dubai World, which bought the QE2 from Cunard in 2007 for £50.5m, is around £14bn in debt.

A portfolio of "trophy" assets that the company could sell off to get out of that position has been reportedly drawn up - and the QE2 is amongst them.

It is not clear how much Dubai World would expect a buyer to pay for the vessel.

Joe Allan, 68, from Duntocher, who was a shipbuilder on the QE2, is keen to see the ship return to Clydebank.

He said: "I would love to see it brought back to the Clyde.

"It would need to be bought by someone with a lot of money.

"We could get it under the Erskine Bridge all right if we wanted to.

"I wouldn't like to see it going to America like the Queen Mary but that would be better than it going to the scrapyard."

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This article appeared in Clydebank Post 10 Feb 10

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