City Council Sends Panel an SOS: Save Our Ship

The Queen Mary attraction in Long Beach received a boost this week when the Long Beach City Council recommended that the luxury liner remain open.

The Council voted 6 to 3 Tuesday to recommend that the Board of Harbor Commissioners fund the liner and its facilities, including the Spruce Goose, while officials find a new operator or determine what would replace the attraction on the site.

But the fate of the Queen Mary and its nearly 1,000 employees remains in the hands of a split Harbor Commission, which will vote Monday on the ship’s future.

Three of five harbor commissioners said they do not intend to ask the Walt Disney Co., which manages the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose attractions, to continue in Long Beach through the end of the year. What happens after that is uncertain.

Disney officials, who have said they will drop the company’s lease when it expires Sept. 30, offered to continue operating the attraction through the end of the year, but only if the port picks up the losses. That would cost the Port of Long Beach about $2.7 million, according to a consultant’s report.

In addition, under the arrangement, Disney insists that the port pay for any Queen Mary workers’ compensation claims between September and December, which harbor authorities estimate could cost up to $9.2 million.