A BOLD bid to bring the iconic QE2 to Greenock is dead in the water, the Tele can reveal.

The dream of relocating the former Cunard cruise ship from Dubai to the River Clyde is now ‘highly unlikely’ to bear fruit according to officials at the forefront of a high-profile campaign.

Riverside Inverclyde chief executive Aubrey Fawcett, who chairs the QE2 working group, says the vessel’s Arab owners have failed to respond to enquiries about her current state and say whether she is for sale or not.

The campaign to bring the QE2 to Greenock was launched in June by community activist John Houston and gained support from Inverclyde Council and the Scottish Government after being highlighted in the Tele.

It came after pictures emerged of the legendary liner languishing in a dock in Dubai, where she has been since she was sold by Cunard in 2008.

Despite the efforts of the working group to enter into talks with her secretive owners, it seems there is no realistic chance of the vessel returning to the River Clyde.

Mr Fawcett said: “It is becoming clear that bringing the QE2 back to Scotland, which was always an ambitious proposition, is highly unlikely to happen.

“The working group has, through the Dubai offices of Scottish Development International, established contacts with the owners of the ship.

“We have also written directly to the owners seeking clarity on the state of the ship and whether she is for sale. No direct response to that correspondence has been forthcoming.

“Consequently we must conclude that it is highly unlikely that Scotland features in the future plans for the vessel.”

After reports emerged last year that the ship could be for sale, Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe wrote to the Scottish Government to highlight the plight of the QE2.

Tourism minister Fergus Ewing responded by encouraging national agencies to join an Inverclyde-based working group, which was then set up featuring representatives from the local authority, RI, the government, Scottish Development International, Scottish Enterprise, Visit Scotland and West Dunbartonshire Council.

Among those backing the bid were Euromillions winners Colin and Chris Weir and billionaire businessman Jim McColl, who told the Tele that the idea was ‘absolutely achievable’.

West Dunbartonshire Council had also expressed an interest in bringing the QE2 to Clydebank, where she was built and also made contact with Scottish Government ministers.

In November, the chairman of the vessel’s Dubai-based owners DP World reportedly told an online cruise website that the ship will not be scrapped and said that there was a ‘new plan’ for her.

Officials from the working group have now confirmed that the QE2, which fitted out in Greenock, will not be heading back to the Clyde but they say that everyone involved in the campaign can take pride in having helped to highlight her current plight.

Mr Fawcett said: “We are heartened to hear through media sources linked to the Dubai owners a commitment that QE2 is not destined to be scrapped and that there are plans in place.

“While it is disappointing that those plans don’t include the option of bringing her back home to the Clyde where she was built, we can take heart that we have shone a spotlight onto the vessel and her current condition.”