Plans for the Queen Elizabeth 2 to sail to South Africa for the World Cup finals in the summer have been cancelled.
The former Cunard ship had been scheduled to act as a “floating hotel” for the FIFA football tournament beginning in June, docking at the port in Cape Town in order to cope with the surge in demand for hotel rooms during the four-week competition.
Port authorities at Cape Town have told the ship’s current owners, Dubai-based Istithmar World, that they cannot accommodate the ship for the required length of time.
Sanjay Govan, port manager at South Africa’s Transnet National Port Authority, told Abu Dhabi newspaper The National: “It’s the length of stay that was an issue. They wanted to stay much longer than just the World Cup.
“You have to sacrifice a normal cargo-working berth for such an operation. You wouldn’t do that for such a long time.”
Holland America has loaned two of its ships (MS Noordam and MS Westerdam) to a German hospitality provider to use as floating hotels during the World Cup. The ships will sail between Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban during the tournament, acting as temporary hotels at each port.
Ref: HSLP0101AA181
