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The city of Long Beach, Calif., will take over daily operations of the historic Queen Mary for the first time in more than 40 years after the ship’s current operator chose to give up the lease in a sudden decision in bankruptcy court, city officials said Friday, the Long Beach Post reported. The move means Long Beach will have complete control of the ship and will be tasked with deciding how much to invest in critical repairs for the aging vessel. An inspection report in April determined the ship would need at least $23 million in critical repairs to remain viable in the next two years. The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday will consider the immediate authorization of $500,000 in Tidelands Critical Infrastructure funds to begin testing and design work for safety projects. Officials said the city will work to identify other funding options to cover a minimum of $5 million in immediate repairs. The action comes as the current leaseholder filed a motion to reject the lease in bankruptcy court on Friday. The ship’s operator Eagle Hospitality Trust filed for chapter 11 protection in January with a total of more than $500 million in debt. The ship’s lease was set to go to auction but did not receive any bidders, while the city had been locked in a legal battle with former operator Urban Commons over a litany of failed lease obligations.

Mesabi Metallics has sued the state of Minnesota for terminating its iron ore leases, a move intended to keep its troubled and long-delayed mining project from collapsing, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) terminated Mesabi Metallics' mineral leases last week, saying the company failed to meet provisions of its state agreement, notably having $200 million in hand by May 1. Mesabi Metallics late Friday sued the DNR in Ramsey County District Court for breach of contract and breach of good faith, essentially asking the court to disallow the lease cancellation. Mesabi Metallics called the DNR's termination "unjustified and unlawful." The DNR declined to comment on the suit. The state leases are critical for Mesabi Metallics' plans to finish a half-built taconite project in Nashwauk that first proposed in 2007, with construction beginning a decade ago. Cleveland-Cliffs, the largest player in Minnesota's taconite business, has long sought the leases. Recently, U.S. Steel, the Iron Range's other heavyweight, has shown interest in them, too. Both companies want the leases to supply ore to their existing taconite plants, though each is also apparently interested in building a nearby facility that would create a purer form of iron. The state has not yet indicated its next move on the Mesabi leases. Essar Steel Minnesota started building the project in earnest in 2011 with a planned 2013 completion date. But in July 2016, after myriad missed deadlines, then-Gov. Mark Dayton moved to terminate Essar's lease. The financially strapped firm filed chapter 11 bankruptcy. By the end of 2017, the project — rechristened Mesabi Metallics — had financially reorganized with new owners, a new plan and a new lease agreement with the state of Minnesota. Essar re-entered the picture in January 2019 by buying up $260 million of Mesabi's outstanding debt and eventually what was left of its equity. In December 2020, the state extended Mesabi's lease agreement over strong objections from Cleveland-Cliffs.