A new Dubai-based company, QE2 Holding, is formed as the QE2 prepares to leave Dubai for Asia. As widely reported in today's press a new holding company made up of local (Dubai) and foreign investors has been formed to fund the transformation of the QE2 into a hotel resort in the Far East.
With an estimated value of $90 million, the re-imagining of the QE2 as a luxury 400-suite hotel in Asia will see the QE2 leave Dubai on 18 October 2013. She will head to China, to an as yet unidentified shipyard to begin an extensive refit.
Although the QE2 is under the control of the new QE2 Holding company, Dubai has confirmed that the ship is still owned by the Government of Dubai. She represents a significant investment for the Government and the new holding company allows for new partners to join the project, to provide additional funding to kick-start the long-overdue refit of the QE2.
The QE2 has remained largely un-used in Dubai since her retirement in November 2008.
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