The former Cunard liner Queen Mary, once queen of the Atlantic and since 1967 a hotel in Long Beach, California may be in danger of capsizing because of poor maintenance and broken bilge pumps according to an inspection report given to the city of Long Beach, which owns the ship.
At present, the 1936 luxury Art Deco-styled ship is closed, first by the pandemic and then by bankruptcy of the company that currently has the lease to operate it on behalf of the city. The engineer report estimates at least $23 million worth of repairs are needed, including restoring bilge pumps and flood alarm systems. Their lack the report says, “could lead to flooding throughout the ship, potential capsizing of the ship and life safety and environmental issues to the extent that flooding occurred.”
In addition, according to the Long Beach Post, even the passenger-facing areas are in bad shape, with broken handrails, carpet held together with duct tape and corroded fire hoses.
Since the ship retired, it’s been through a variety of operators, including Disney,nearly all of whom have walked away in the face of high maintenance costs. The most recent operator, Urban Commons, was able to make money on the operation by renting the land around it for events, and had proposed an ambitious waterfront development, Queen Mary Island.
That’s very sad, I’ve stayed on that ship/hotel and remember it fondly.