[Someone]

A boat is "a hole in the water, into which you throw money", so a big boat is a big hole in which you throw lots of money.

I don't know this ship, but given that it was built around 1950, chances are that the builders used asbestos for isolation.

That means that, even if the ship were new, it would cost millions to make it suitable for almost any use.

For an example, see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Rotterdam. The English page doesn't say it, but restoration of that ship to its original state cost over €100M.

[scrumper]

The asbestos was stripped in the '90s, so that problem has gone. I'm quite sure there are all kinds of other nasties there though.

Maybe Paul Allen will get involved. He likes large boats and has the capital to finance a refurbishment.

[jlgaddis]

> "In the 1990s, she was towed to Ukraine to be stripped of asbestos."