QE2, the world’s most famous ocean liner, arrives in Dubai today, exactly forty years to the day from when she first went to sea on her preliminary sea trials on November 26, 1968.

QE2 will make her way along the Dubai coastline to Mina Rashid, where she will be moored before undergoing a transformation that will see her become a centre of culture and luxury on the eastern trunk side of Palm Jumeirah.

A grand reception has been planned to receive the QE2, which includes a flotilla of over 60 local yachts, boats and leisure-craft led by MY Dubai – the mega-yacht of Sheikh Mohammed, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in addition to the Royal Navy Frigate, HMS Lancaster,

The welcoming flotilla, with the UAE Navy also taking a leading role, will then accompany QE2 through the Arabian Gulf to Mina Rashid.  The Dubai Coastguard GRP Fourth Squadron will be coordinating all activity in the Arabian Gulf.

As QE2 passes The World an Emirates A380 Airbus, will perform a fly-past in honour of her arrival.  Joining the A380 Airbus in the skies will be a Royal Naval helicopter.

“Nakheel is proud to be the custodian of such an historic treasure. Dubai, with its wealth of maritime heritage, is providing the warmest of welcomes and a new homecoming for this icon of the seas,' stated Sultan Bin Ahmed Sulayem, chairman of Dubai World.

“It is also apt that refurbishment work on QE2 will take place within the Dubai Dry Dock, which Her Highness Queen Elizabeth II, escorted by Sheikh Rashid, inaugurated 29 years ago during her first official visit to the UAE.”

“For QE2, we believe that life really does begin at 40.  Our plans include her transformation into an ultra-luxury floating hotel, synonymous with her rich heritage, where she’ll form the centrepiece of a luxurious residential, entertainment, marina, and hotel development off the trunk of Palm Jumeirah,' added Manfred Ursprunger, CEO of QE2 Enterprises, Nakheel Hotels.

A heritage museum displaying artifacts from QE2 and of local maritime history as well as a West-end style theatre capable of staging the very best, full-scale West End and Broadway productions will also feature in the precinct.-TradeArabia News Service