Work is due to begin on a new cruise liner which is widely thought will eventually replace the QE2.
The new £300m Queen Victoria, owned by Southampton-based Cunard, is being built at an Italian shipyard, where the keel is due to be laid on Friday.
Cunard admits it has been giving some thought to QE2's final resting place.
The QE2, which was launched 39 years ago, has carried two million passengers across five million miles.
She served as a troop ship in the Falklands War but the 67,000-ton vessel gave up her Cunard Line flagship status to newer sister ship the Queen Mary 2 last year
Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
