Page 3rd Cover: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2003)

Cruise & Ferry

There's Something About

Queen Mary 2 will not only be the largest, tallest and fastest passenger ship of its type in the world; it will also revive the august tradition of the transatlantic liner and take the design of such vessels several steps further into the future

The long and illustrious tradition of glamour associated with transatlantic liners is set to con- tinue when Queen Mary 2, owned by Cunard and classed by Lloyd's Register, leaves the port of

Southampton for Fort Lauderdale on its maiden voyage in January 2004. After this first voyage.

Queen Mary 2 will sail the traditional transat- lantic liner route from Southampton to New York

City for which it was specifically designed, although the ship will, over its lifetime, play a dual role as both liner and cruise vessel. Upon completion in December 2003, it will be the largest, tallest and fastest passenger vessel of its type yet built in the world, at a height of 236 ft. (72 m), a beam of 134.5 ft. (41 m) and a length overall of 1,132 ft. (345 m). "From the beginning.

Carnival Corporation [Cunard's parent company] made it clear that it wanted a vessel that would be able to sail the cruise trades, as well as operate in the original liner trade from the UK to New York

City," says John Rugg, Senior Vice-President and

Cruise Business Manager for Lloyd's Register. "This meant that Queen Mary 2 would have to be able to operate to a strict timetable in all weathers and that it would need to have a robust structure that could deliver that reliability of operation."

The vessel's hull structure is unique in several ways that are a direct result of both the ship's size and its intended route. Queen Mary 2 has a long, slender bow to enable it to cut through the waves of the North Atlantic, and its superstructure of seven decks is set back to prevent damage from greenwater. For passenger comfort, the vessel will be fitted with two sets of 'active fin' stabilis- ers to reduce rolling. In addition, to give the ship's structure greater strength and support, it is being built as a longitudinally framed ship structure, in which the longitudinal members traverse onstruction of what will be the world's largest cruise vessel takes shape at Chantiers de I'

Atlantique in St. Nazaire, France.

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