South Africa confirmed it was examining a proposal from Dubai to permanently berth the venerable Queen Elizabeth 2 liner at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront in Cape Town, and convert the vessel into a luxury hotel.

Dubai World, the government-owned conglomerate that purchased the transatlantic ocean liner for $100m in 2007, originally planned to berth the ageing Cunard ship by the vast artificial Palm Jumeirah island built by one of its companies, Nakheel.