Queen Elizabeth 2, the former Cunard flagship affectinally known as QE2, has been reported as sold by its Dubai based owners to buyers in the Far East, who intend to convert the ship to a 500 room five star hotel.

The BBC reports on its website that Nakheel, the Dubai based company that bought the ship from Cunard in 2008 for $100 million, has sold it to the new buyers for £50 million or about $80 million. Nakheel had planned to rebuilt the ship as a floating luxury hotel for use in Dubai, but the plan collapsed in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008-09.

The ship was built in Scotland in and delivered to Cunard in 1969. Originally steam turbine powered and measured at 65,863 gross tons, it became probably the most refitted and rebuilt passenger ship of recent history.

In 1986-87 it received a diesel-electric propulsion plant and in 2004, its interiors were totally redesigned giving it a very different identity than before the work that was called Project Lifestyle. Decommissioned in 2008, the ship measured at 70,327 gross tons in its final years in service.