Ship Simulator
English forum => Small talk => Topic started by: IRI5HJ4CK on September 15, 2009, 07:51:12
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Hi guys,
Was just looking at an interesting article, and a few photo's....QE2, Is No longer, officially, British.
"Port Vila Replaces Southampton On QE2
August 26: News from the www.TheQE2Story.com/forum states that since the QE2 is no longer owned by a British company, and hence cannot be registered under the maritime flag of the UK, "Southampton" no longer appears on her stern as the home port. Instead, "Port Vila", the capital of Vanuatu (one of a few convenience flags willing to register a non-SOLAS 2010-compliant, 40 year old ship) has replaced "Southampton", (though clearly still visible) on her stern. This allows QE2 to operate as a floating hotel and within the boundaries of maritime law. Her famous callsign, GBTT, has been changed to YJVW6, as assigned by her new flag state."
(http://www.maritimematters.com/images/QE2withPortVila20090919.jpg)
QE2 at Port Rashid, Dubai, on August 19, 2009. Photo copyright MartimeMatters.com 2009.
(http://www.maritimematters.com/images/vanuatuflag.jpg)
Flag of Vanuatu
www.TheQE2Story.com/forum (Source)
Kind Regards,
Jack.
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Cool, I guess.
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Why ''no longer British''?
Even if she is property of the Dubai World Co. then she is still British build. So its still a british ship. :captain:
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Why ''no longer British''?
Even if she is property of the Dubai World Co. then she is still British build. So its still a british ship. :captain:
When I said like what you said about Titanic, I was corrected, and told that Titanic was an English ship ::) - But then again, one could view it differently...That the Northern part of Ireland is "English".
I totally agree with you. To me, QE2 is still British, But technically...To the people that are fussy about it...She isn't. Note I put British in Quotes...
Jack.
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When I said like what you said about Titanic, I was corrected, and told that Titanic was an English ship ::) - But then again, one could view it differently...That the Northern part of Ireland is "English".
Titanic was built in Norhten Irleand (Irish half) and was registered in Liverpool (British Half) but I say since Northern Ireland if part of United Kingdom, Titanic is 3 fourths British and a fourth Irish :thumbs: But sad of Queen Elizabeth 2 no longer a British Liner though she is British Built, I just hate it when a famous ships original registration port is replaced. If this ever happened to Titanic if she was a floating hotel to today, I would be furious >:(
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I think I found the Port Vila QE2 here in Sydney Australia with Google Earth 5 in the attachment.
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I personally think it's a big shame that they didn't keep Southampton on her stern, flying the British flag...But according to them, they have to comply with some laws over there, And she has to be registered with them.
Jack.
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I found something:
On July 10, 2009 it was revealed that QE2 may sail to Cape Town, South Africa to become a floating hotel (for use primarily during the 2010 FIFA World Cup), in a Dubai World sponsored venture at the V&A Waterfront.
This was confirmed by Nakheel on July 20, 2009.
In preparation for this expected voyage the ship was placed into the Dubai Dry-dock and underwent an extensive exterior refurbishment. During this refit, the ship's underwater hull was repainted and inspected.
Shortly after her refit QE2 was registered under the flag of Vanuatu and Port Vila (her new home port) was painted on her stern, replacing the word Southampton.
She has since returned to Port Rashid where it is anticipated she will soon sail for Cape Town. The arrival of QE2 in Cape Town is expected to create many local jobs (as the ship will arrive with only a mechanical crew) including Hotel staff, Restaurant staff, chefs, cleaners and shop attendants all being sourced from the local workforce.
She will (maybe) steam on her own power.
2 other ship of the Holland America Line will serve temporary as a floating hotel to.
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QE2 sailing again? BIG NEWS!! ;D she gets to sail one more time ever since her retirement.
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QE2 sailing again? BIG NEWS!! ;D she gets to sail one more time ever since her retirement.
I suppose it is..But, I still think it's a shame she was stripped of anything relating to England/Southampton/Cunard :-\
But maybe I'm just hard to please ;D
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I have heard the QE2 will sail to Cape Town without any passengers - when Cunard sold her, there was a clause inserted in the contract which stipulate that should she ever sail again she is not to carry passengers when at sea.
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:(
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:(
Yup, you can't blame Cunard, though. The QE2 is such a high pedigree that if she ever sails again, there was bound to be very strong interest from QE2 fans, or from people who wants a second chance to sail on her after missing out the farewell cruises.
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I have heard the QE2 will sail to Cape Town without any passengers - when Cunard sold her, there was a clause inserted in the contract which stipulate that should she ever sail again she is not to carry passengers when at sea.
shame, but when she's reitred she's retired so really, sailing again would just be wrong in my view
on a totally unrelated note, Matt deserves a prize for a fantastic sig, nice to see another nascar fan around!
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nascar fan
Did you ever see that episode of Top Gear when they went around America....? :lol: :D
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Did you ever see that episode of Top Gear when they went around America....? :lol: :D
The Stigs American Cousin ;D
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The Stigs American Cousin ;D
Hahah :lol: Like two English stigs slapped together :P :lol:
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The Stigs American Cousin ;D
Big Stig ;D
But seriously, somehow we have an extreme tendency of getting waaaay of topic :lol:
On topic then: Personally I don't like that they didn't keep Southampton on her stern and flying the British flag as you said Jack, I agree with you :)
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Well, change of homeport & flag - it's only a little of what could be done. Lucky that she still has Queen Elizabeth 2 written on board!
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WHY all the big fuss about this ship? ???
WHAT is so special about it? It's the last big British 'liner'? So what... It was just another cruise ship- it's a long time since that boat was a liner! And to top it off, it's a cruise ship with very little facilities for people- such as gof courses, wall climbing, log flumes, planetariums etc...
Why not just go to a canal and borrow a big barge? OK I exaggerate, but not by much!
Perhaps (directed towards fellow Brits) we should mourn the death of ship building rather than the death of QE2
Well, change of homeport & flag - it's only a little of what could be done. Lucky that she still has Queen Elizabeth 2 written on board!
You mean like chopping it in half and adding bits... sitting it in concrete and ripping out the inards, like QM!
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it's a cruise ship with very little facilities for people- such as gof courses, wall climbing, log flumes, planetariums etc...
Why the hell would you want a Golf Course on an Ocean Liner? The whole point of going on an Ocean Liner is for that experience at sea, I think! ;D
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WHY all the big fuss about this ship? ???
WHAT is so special about it? It's the last big British 'liner'? So what... It was just another cruise ship- it's a long time since that boat was a liner! And to top it off, it's a cruise ship with very little facilities for people- such as gof courses, wall climbing, log flumes, planetariums etc...
Why not just go to a canal and borrow a big barge? OK I exaggerate, but not by much!
Perhaps (directed towards fellow Brits) we should mourn the death of ship building rather than the death of QE2
Precisely because it is the last liner. It isn't a cruise ship...
And how do you expect a 40 year old ship to have a planetarium? Perhaps they could put a rock climbing wall on the funnel just for you? :)
And she was built in a British yard, a fine example of British shipbuilding. So if the shipbuilding itself has gone, at least a product of that building remains.
So that's what all the fuss is about. Some people would rather see a proper ship instead of the rubbish some cruise lines are building today.
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Some people would rather see a proper ship instead of the rubbish some cruise lines are building today.
Here here...All that plastic they build in some foreign country via cheap labour...
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Golf Courses are for plastic bath tub rubbish ships like Freedom of the Seas and Norwegian Epic :-X
And the QE2 along with QM2 is (or was) one of the last regular transatlantic liners...
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With respect, it is a long time since it was really a liner (then along came Boeing with their 'nasty' 707 then 'nastier' 747 and liners were finished). It has done a lot more cruising than its limited Transatlantic crossings for most of its 'life'.
QM2 is a cruise ship as well- look at cunard website for details. I know they CALL it a liner, but you could CALL it a sausage roll, but that wouldn't make it so.
I know how easy it is to get sentimental about a ship (that most people here probably haven't even seen, let alone travelled on) but why THIS one? Where was everyone when they scrapped Canberra (look at their comparative histories... both were 1982 troop carriers, but only one was allowed into action zone. Then look at the engineering differences in design- Canberra was built to be adaptable to changing uses, QE2 wasn't. Look at the overall design- the marine architecture was heavily influenced by Canberra- recessed life boats, raked stern decks- a far more efficient steam turbine set)
Golf Courses are for plastic bath tub rubbish ships like Freedom of the Seas and Norwegian Epic :-X
And the QE2 along with QM2 is (or was) one of the last regular transatlantic liners...
I remember when they talked of getting rid of the London Routemaster bus... "noooo they all wailed. It's sooo British" etc... But no one bothered to actually ask those who used them.
Whilst I *DO* agree with you to an extent, do you think RC/PO/CL etc would spend millions building extra facilities if passengers didn't want them. Remember that apart from being of interest to you they DO need to carry passengers to earn money... ;)
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With respect, it is a long time since it was really a liner (then along came Boeing with their 'nasty' 707 then 'nastier' 747 and liners were finished). It has done a lot more cruising than its limited Transatlantic crossings for most of its 'life'.
QM2 is a cruise ship as well- look at cunard website for details. I know they CALL it a liner, but you could CALL it a sausage roll, but that wouldn't make it so.
I know how easy it is to get sentimental about a ship (that most people here probably haven't even seen, let alone travelled on) but why THIS one? Where was everyone when they scrapped Canberra (look at their comparative histories... both were 1982 troop carriers, but only one was allowed into action zone. Then look at the engineering differences in design- Canberra was built to be adaptable to changing uses, QE2 wasn't. Look at the overall design- the marine architecture was heavily influenced by Canberra- recessed life boats, raked stern decks- a far more efficient steam turbine set)
I remember when they talked of getting rid of the London Routemaster bus... "noooo they all wailed. It's sooo British" etc... But no one bothered to actually ask those who used them.
Whilst I *DO* agree with you to an extent, do you think RC/PO/CL etc would spend millions building extra facilities if passengers didn't want them. Remember that apart from being of interest to you they DO need to carry passengers to earn money... ;)
With respect, not many ships could carry on through big storms in the middle of the Atlantic like QM2 can, most would have to slow right down, she however can carry on heading through it.
And of course it needs some cruise ship qualities or features people want that however look at documentaries etc on the ship instead of perhaps basing it JUST off the Cunard website. ;)
QE2 was built for liner service aswell as doubling up as a cruise ship. I'm sure you understand that the cruise industry has changed since the 1960s...;)
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With (some) respect ;)
ALL ships will have to slow down for storms- even QM2/QE2 etc etc
The cruise industry has not really changed- it's still a means for people to meander from place to place as a holiday (although there is more emphasis now on the ship than the ports). Liners are point-to-point means of transporting people on scheduled runs.
It was called a liner so it can (or because of) its RMS prefix. I don't know if it will carry any cargo at all, but if so it will be minimal, but would you REALLY call it a Royal Mail Steamer? (Royal Mail Diesel???)
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With... we won't go there... :)
I'm sure you'll agree that QM2 would ride a storm much better than this:
http://www.cruiseweb.nl/images/dwarsdoorsnede/Ventura.jpg
However I do not wish to take this further and get into a petty flame war over different opinions...
Kind Regards,
Mike
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However I do not wish to take this further and get into a petty flame war over different opinions...
Mike, not at all... I don't even remotely consider this a flame war at all (and I hope no one else has the intent on turning it into one). Just a mere difference of opinions, which is being discussed in a mature and adult way.
Besides: I'M right and YOU'RE wrong! :P
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Besides: I'M right and YOU'RE wrong!
Hehe, still on the subject of opinions. :P
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Hehe, still on the subject of opinions. :P
If I'm being honest, and this is my opinion but I'm NOT trying to antagonise anyone, I think it would have been better to scrap QE2 or sink it in the Atlantic as an artificial reef for fish.
Instead of what Dubai had planned for it- chopping in half, adding bits here, losing bits there. Removing anything remotely ship like (engines etc) and then letting it sit in port for years...
It would have been better if it had been kept in Britain (Or USA- NY port) where it was seen before.
<b>EDIT:</b> I've just measured my trailer and QE2 won't fit behind my car. So I'm stuck with my sailing boat :o
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In many respects I agree with you there, it would have been much nicer to keep her in the UK or US. However I guess thing don't always turn out as people want. :-\
<b>EDIT:</b> I've just measured my trailer and QE2 won't fit behind my car. So I'm stuck with my sailing boat
You'll have to make do for now :P
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My opinion on this, is that, QE2 has a sentimental value that other ships may not have. She represents the last of her kind, both, for UK Engineering, and for Ocean Liners.
Some people would maybe look at QE2 as being just another ship - But, the difference is, QE2 Was one of the only ships left that could represent the United Kingdom. Most other ships are built abroad now, on the cheap. Because of this, Britain has no Ship Building industry anymore - Britain, Is broke.
Personally, I believe that QE2, for some, was the last real representation of when the times were good in Britain. Alas, no longer.
QE2 should have stayed in Britain...I think....Sending it off to another country angered quite a few people....
Jack.
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There is the moral that it was a British company that ordered a British yard (sorry to any Scots offended by that notion) to make the British ship.
Then it became an American company that would buy from wherever was cheapest.
Surely British people can't be the only people in the world to sell off all the family china and then wonder why there's no cups to drink from!
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Then it became an American company that would buy from wherever was cheapest.
Do you mean they ordered ships from the cheapest yards? If so, I dont think so, for QM2 at least, the shipbuilders had to bid to build the QM2, or so I think ???
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BID to build... You mean bid to build with the LOWEST prices!
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But by the time the QM2 was ordered, there were no more British Sjipyards, especially for something as large as the QM2.
Also the St Nazaire Shipyards is one of the best.
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errr... yes. ??? But all the British shipping companies were sold out LONG before QM2 was ordered, so what, TFM, is your point? ???
Had British fleets looked after the British ship yards before, then maybe there would still be some now that COULD bolt together a boat like QM2.
I don't doubt St. Nazaire is one of the finest; the French have a long tradition of building good ships- but so did Britain once.
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There is the moral that it was a British company that ordered a British yard (sorry to any Scots offended by that notion) to make the British ship.
Then it became an American company that would buy from wherever was cheapest.
Surely British people can't be the only people in the world to sell off all the family china and then wonder why there's no cups to drink from!
Answering this Post Stu.
there wasn't a British Yard. So they chose one of the best yards
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I'm sorry, TFM. I didn't make my point very clear... What I mean is that the rot in British manufacturing happened a LONG time before QM2.
British companies embraced the free market and it has cost the Country dearly in the longer term. Other Countries use protectionism (don't believe the denials- there are plenty of examples).
You are right that Britain can not make big ships (or even smaller (non-Naval, anyway) vessels) now. The problem was the lack of support of other companies in the Country- this can be traced back to the end of WW2, but mostly in the 1970s onwards.
Although one has to admit that the British employee unions had their hand in destroying industry, but that IS a topic likely to end in flames :evil: :evil: :evil:
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I'm sorry, TFM. I didn't make my point very clear... What I mean is that the rot in British manufacturing happened a LONG time before QM2.
British companies embraced the free market and it has cost the Country dearly in the longer term. Other Countries use protectionism (don't believe the denials- there are plenty of examples).
You are right that Britain can not make big ships (or even smaller (non-Naval, anyway) vessels) now. The problem was the lack of support of other companies in the Country- this can be traced back to the end of WW2, but mostly in the 1970s onwards.
Although one has to admit that the British employee unions had their hand in destroying industry, but that IS a topic likely to end in flames :evil: :evil: :evil:
Another factor is the European Union's free market directive, which insist that any tender work over a certain amount (EUR 250,000 I believe) must go out on competitive bidders, plus the spineless, pathetic British politicans who don't have the guts to tell the EU where to shove off. It has really harmed our shipbuilding industry badly.
In the last 5 years the commercial shipyard at Port Glasgow (who built RED EAGLE and her 2 other sisters) has lost out on several Caledonian MacBrayne ferry orders to Poland, because they were able to significantly undercut the British bid, despite complaints that Polish shipyards were allegedly receiving State aid. (the British shipyard receives no State aid at all; in doing so would have breached the EU anti-competition laws!!!)
The Port Glasgow shipyard even lost out on an order (again to Poland) to build a fishery protection vessel for the Scottish Government. >:( You just couldn't make that up!
To rub in our wounds, the Caledonian MacBrayne ferries are also owned by the Scottish Government (i.e. WE paid for the ferries with our taxes!) and these orders would have kept the local shipyard workers off the dole. It would seem that our politicans prefer to have our highly-skilled workforce working in a call centre or in a supermarket, stacking the shelves.
Just my opinion on the sorry state that we call the (not so) Great Britain. :thumbdown:
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It is not only British shipbuilders who have suffered because of the lack of political support. British shipping companies suffered many years ago in the same way. As far back as 1978 I was on a British general cago ship loading in East African ports for Avonmouth, Dublin, Liverpool and Manchester. We actually were able to collect just over 1000 tonnes of cargo, wheras a Russian ship loading for exactly the same ports had a full cargo and sailed for UK loaded down to her marks. The Russian government (USSR at that time) subsidised the freight rates such that they could undercut British ships by a vast amount. Naturally the shippers went for the lower prices. Liverpool shipping companies were once the pride of our Country, almost too many of them to list by name, but now there are virtually none of them left.
Sadly though, the main reason for the demise of the vast British merchant navy was the end of the British Empire. Once all those countries which were part of the Empire became self governing many of them built up their own fleets. Countries which had never had their own ships, such as the countries of the Middle East, also built large fleets using their oil revenues to finance them. Now the British merchant fleet is tiny and virtually defunct. Flags of convenience, such as Panama and Liberia also eroded things with their lower standards of safety and equipment.
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Traddles is- as usual- quite right :) and has put a lot more detail into it. I suppose if one takes his point that a shipping company is trying to survive against foreign operators, it will buy the cheapest ships.
It rather reminds me of a local farmer once complaining about supermarkets buying foreign meat and crops 'forcing his prices down' and preventing him from making a living... right just before he drove off in his Mitsubishi Shogun. How do I explain to him that the British workers who worked in factories making cars can no longer afford to buy his British farm produce as they are all out of work thanks to foreign car imports.
The above is over-simplified but when one takes out all the superflouos detail, that is what you are left with, chaps.
*** Sorry that this has gone a bit off topic. I don't fancy suggesting a new topic about 'protectionism' or 'appaling government management of Britain:' (or many other former 1st world countries)
EDIT:
Sadly though, the main reason for the demise of the vast British merchant navy was the end of the British Empire.
I have a solution to the above, Traddles, but I doubt many people around the world would like it... ;D
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The QE2 was a bench mark of what britan could do in the more powerful days when money grew on trees and coins were in the grass. many people would rather go on hte QE2 than some other cheap rubbish made in the same rubbish as some 4 year olds bath toys. if you asked mre the QE2 could have lasted 50 years in serivce.to us british folk the QE2 was more than some cruise liner it was a pride to the nation. if you ask me when ship sim 2010 comes out it should be a special ship. it was the classyest ship ever (maybe not next to the QM2) but still beats most ships for class nowadays :captain:
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Alex,
I disagree with you. I say this not to provoke an arguement or anything of the sort. I agree that more people have something for the QE2 than who do not.
OK, so it is an old ship, built at the sunset of an old era... But as the ship was old in terms of its features, it lacked the onboard facilities of modern 'bath toys' as you call them :D.
It is like a Routemaster bus or a steam train. People like to look at them and think back to a time when... But in reality, its time had come. I am not a maritime expert (others here are) but there are issues with the age there too.
Personally though, if it was not to be moored in Britain, I'd have preferred a a visit to alang, or a diving reef than leave it moored to rust, like the QM1, SS US et al... chopping it in half to stick a new section in? Now THAT is sacrilige.