Soon lost to history? Queen Mary could capsize if repairs not made

LONG BEACH, Calif. — A ship from the golden age of cruising could soon be lost to history.

The Queen Mary, which is moored as a tourist destination in Long Beach, California, is in desperate need of repairs, according to a report by naval architecture and marine engineers with Elliott Bay Design Group, The Long Beach Post News reported.

The firm, which inspected the ship on April 28, found that the ship needs an extra $23 million in urgent repairs to make the vessel “viable,” the newspaper reported.

Former managing director of the Port of Long Beach, Geraldine Knatz, said the iconic ship is corroding from the inside out, KCBS reported.

Knatz said it’s been happening for decades and she saw the issues when she toured the ship 30 years ago.

“I leaned my arm on a part of the structure coming out from the helm and a piece actually, literally broke off and fell to the bottom,” Knatz shared with KCBS.

Long Beach is the owner of the ship, but leases it to operators who run the floating museum.

Right now it’s operated by Eagle Hospitality Trust, but the ship’s lease is scheduled for auction this week unless a legal objection is granted to block the sale.

Eagle Hospitality Trust has filed for bankruptcy, KTTV reported.

The city claimed a previous operator, Urban Commons, did not do millions of dollars in critical repair work, despite being granted $23 million in funding by the city.

Now, according to Elliott Bay, there are issues with leaks and watertight infrastructure that could lead to flooding, the Post News reported.

There are also issues with the sewage holding tanks and leaks in the pipes to the tanks.

There is no working bilge system or flood alarm system, which means that if the ship floods it could capsize, Elliott Bay Design Group said.

The ship’s boiler system has failed and cannot provide hot water or heat through the ship, which is also operated as a hotel. Guests can stay in original first-class staterooms and suites.

The emergency generator is also not working.

The ship was built in 1930 in Clydebank, Scotland, and embarked on its maiden voyage on May 27, 1936. It retired as an ocean liner in 1967 after carrying more than 2.2 million passengers.

It also served as a troop transport during World War II, carrying 810,000, being called the “Grey Ghost” when it was coated in grey paint of a troopship in 1940 and all of the luxuries of a trans-Atlantic ocean liner were removed. It began twenty more years of passenger service on July 21, 1947, ending its voyages on December 9, 1967, in its current home of Long Beach.

1 of 15