Queen Mary Ship

To Japanese promoters, it's an irresistible combination: the Queen Mary's fabled history and high-brow exclusivity, the Japanese public's penchant for booms and brand names, and the hottest destination spot in Tokyo.

Saying that the Queen Mary is too important an icon to let go, Long Beach City Manager James C. Hankla on Friday strongly recommended that the City Council refuse to sell the ship or send it temporarily to Tokyo.

Upping the ante on the proposed trip of the Queen Mary to Japan, a new analysis by the Long Beach city manager's office showed Tuesday that it could cost as much as $12 million to tow the famed ship to Tokyo Bay. And that's a one-way estimate. It is uncertain how much it would cost to bring it back.

The Queen Mary, at least for now, is staying in Long Beach. The Long Beach City Council voted Tuesday night to delay a decision for at least 60 days on whether to allow the operator of the famed ship to tow it to Japan and base it there for three to five years to raise money for repairs and restoration. In a session punctuated by references to the Titanic and "Ship of Fools," the nine-member City Council decided it wanted to know a lot more about the proposal by Queen Mary operator Joseph F.

Businessman Joseph F. Prevratil, a onetime amusement park entrepreneur who now operates the Queen Mary, was laying ambitious plans to move the famed ship from Long Beach to Tokyo in a deal valued in the tens of millions of dollars, even as he was fighting off creditors in a bankruptcy in Riverside. The fusion of blue-sky dreams and bankruptcy comes as no surprise to those who have followed Prevratil's career.

Declaring that it is in Long Beach's best interest to keep the Queen Mary home, City Manager James C. Hankla urged the City Council on Thursday to reject a proposal to move the famed ship to Tokyo for three to five years. Hankla's recommendation came in response to a plan presented to the city by Queen Mary operator Joseph F. Prevratil, who said the city-owned ship would generate enough money as a floating hotel-casino to finance a $40-million overhaul of the vessel.

Waving big dollars at cash-starved Long Beach city leaders, the operator of the Queen Mary on said Tuesday he wants to take the famed ship to Tokyo Bay for three to five years in return for making badly needed repairs. Joseph Prevratil, who operates the Queen Mary under a lease from the city, proposed to spend $40 million on improvements to the 60-year-old ship and pay the city $5 million each year it is in Japan. "The Queen Mary needs an overhaul.

Opening a new chapter in the storied history of the Queen Mary, the ship's operator is negotiating with Japanese interests to move Long Beach's best-known icon to Tokyo Bay for at least three years. The negotiations are being conducted by Joseph F. Prevratil, who operates the Queen Mary under a lease from the city, and are being closely followed by municipal leaders, a number of whom are expressing skepticism.

Picture Long Beach without the Queen Mary. A few people have been doing just that in recent years as the venerable luxury liner, parked at a downtown pier for 27 years, sucked up city funds like a vacuum cleaner. But now, with the ship and adjacent facilities about to break even as a popular entertainment center, the city has approved a long-term lease with the Queen Mary's managers, removing a lot of doubts about the ship's future. "It's really a go now," said Vice Mayor Douglas Drummond.