London - Queen Elizabeth II Monday bid farewell to the luxury ocean liner QE2 which, after 40 years in service, will be turned into a floating hotel in Dubai. The queen, 82, who also celebrated the 55th anniversary of her coronation Monday, joined 300 guests of honour on the 70,000-ton liner in Southampton, on the south cast of Britain.
The QE2, launched in 1969, became the largest vessel ever to navigate the Panama Canal, transported British troops to the Falkland Islands in 1982 and once ran aground off Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
It has since been overtaken by the more modern Queen Mary 2 and, last year, by the Queen Victoria.
In November, the QE2 will make its final journey to Dubai, where it will be berthed at Palm Jumeirah, the world's largest man-made island.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the chairman of Dubai World, which acquired the vessel for 50 million pounds (100 million dollars), told the Times Monday: "She is coming to a home where she will be cherished."
