Queen Mary Faces Rough Sailing in Her Home Port : Attractions: Harbor commissioners weigh five proposals to move the ship, one to keep her.

The Queen Mary’s future in Long Beach looked bleaker this week after harbor officials eliminated all but one of the proposals to operate it in town, while five proposals to relocate the ship are under consideration.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Tuesday rejected 12 proposals for the Queen Mary because they did not contain a $100,000 bond, a requirement designed to guard against dubious plans, officials said.

Of the 18 proposals, four were to operate the city-owned ship in Long Beach and 14 were to buy it and move it elsewhere. Initially, port officials erroneously said there were five proposals to operate the ship in Long Beach and 13 proposals to move the vessel.

The port’s executive director, S. R. Dillenbeck, flew to Hong Kong on Wednesday to begin negotiations with an investment group that submitted the highest bid of the five potential buyers of the ship, said David L. Hauser, president of the Board of Harbor Commissioners.

The unidentified group would tow the Queen Mary to Hong Kong and convert it into an offshore office, hotel and shopping complex. The group reportedly offered the city about $20 million for the ship.

On his return, Dillenbeck will contact the proponents of the other proposals, Hauser said.

Of the other four purchase proposals, one would move the ship to England, two to Japan, and one to an undisclosed destination.

The lone proposal to leave the ship in Long Beach was submitted by Joseph F. Prevratil, who managed the Queen Mary for the Wrather Corp. from 1982 to 1988.

The Walt Disney Co. began operating the ship in 1988, when it bought Wrather. But Disney, which has lost as much as $10.8 million annually on the tourist attraction, plans to leave the ship at the end of the year.

The six proposals hold hope for those who say the Queen Mary is a money-losing proposition that should leave the city and also for those who say the Long Beach icon, which provides more than 1,000 jobs, should stay.

The five-member Board of Harbor Commissioners is expected to decide on the proposals in the next few weeks.

Hauser said the ship should be sold, noting the money-losing attraction needs as much as $27 million in repairs in the next five years to make it safe.

But Hauser said Dillenbeck will negotiate with potential buyers to keep the ship in Long Beach for several more years, until the city can develop a tourist harbor or some other drawing card to provide jobs and taxes.

“It would be the best of both worlds whereby we could finalize a purchase of the boat, but the boat could remain here for a period of time,” Hauser said.

But another harbor commissioner, Alex Bellehumeur, said it would be premature to strike a sales agreement.

Bellehumeur pointed out that a consultant, Ehrenkrantz & Eckstut Architects, is working on a development plan that could incorporate the Queen Mary. The consultant has proposed bulldozing and dredging Shoreline Aquatic Park to build a new tourist harbor, which could feature the historic ship. The plan is to be completed by October.

The city may find “a developer who is fully capable and willing to operate the Queen Mary,” Bellehumeur said. “(A sales agreement) would eliminate that option.”

Prevratil’s proposal could be the anchor that keeps the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

Prevratil proposed running the ship for three to five years, keeping intact its hotel and banquet services, shops and tours. He would add some attractions, although he would not disclose details, and said he was sure he could run the ship at a profit.

He said he would charge no admission to board the ship and would lower hotel rates to attract more customers. Prevratil said he would make $2 million to $3 million in initial repairs to the ship and spend another $5 million a year in repairs and maintenance to restore the ocean liner.

“I think it will be a very good value and should create a critical mass to make the Queen Mary successful,” Prevratil said.

A spokesman for the United Industrial Workers, the union that represents most Queen Mary employees, said the ship’s workers support Prevratil’s proposal.

“We’ll be able to demonstrate that the ship is economically viable and an economically sound resource for the future of Long Beach,” union spokesman Bud Rymer said.

The rejected proposals included:

* A plan to run the ship as an environmental research, teaching and entertainment center in Long Beach;

* A plan to move the ship to New Zealand and turn it into a communications/entertainment center with radio and television stations and a casino;

* A plan to turn it into a factory ship to process chemical wastes in various locations.