Legacy cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2 to be converted into luxury hotel in Asia

The Queen Elizabeth 2, the ocean liner known as the QE2 that plied the Atlantic for almost 40 years, will be moored in Asia as a 400-room luxury hotel after plans to keep the ship in Dubai were scrapped.

Drydocks World, a unit of state-owned Dubai World, signed an agreement with Oceanic Group Pte Ltd., a cruise company with offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, to convert the ship into a five-star hotel, the companies said today.

“The QE2 is not being scrapped, quite the opposite,” Oceanic Group Managing Director Daniel Chui told reporters in Dubai today. “We will lavish many, many millions of dollars on this magnificent ship to restore her the splendor of her glory days.”