The Queen Mary is a giant disaster. The ship is suffering from so much deferred maintenance, and a history of mismanagement, that it may capsize if drastic repairs can't be started soon.
I think we have discovered that maintaining former ocean liners as luxury hotels, malls, or other sea-side attractions is not cost effective. These ships were not designed to operate forever, aren't a lot of fun to visit, and never seem to generate enough revenue to keep themselves afloat.
In addition to overseeing the boat as it has deteriorated so badly, two of the Queen Mary's current operators are accused with stealing a ton of COVID-19 paycheck protection funds.
Documents in Delaware bankruptcy court allege that Urban Commons principals Taylor Woods and Howard Wu conspired to split the Queen Mary's employee payroll into two groups so they could apply for two different federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and maximize their aid money.
They then allegedly drained a bank account "within mere hours" of receiving $2.4 million in loans and funneled the money into various accounts for personal gain, according to documents.
The accusations come as current Queen Mary operator Eagle Hospitality Trust, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January, sells off its portfolio of hotels in bankruptcy court. The hotel chain last week received more than $480 million in bids for 14 of its properties, but the Queen Mary lease has yet to find a qualified bidder, according to documents.
