Shipping giant’s new era (From Daily Echo)

Shipping giant’s new era

7:26am Thursday 2nd July 2009

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By Keith Hamilton »

THE dream was due to become reality as the giant steel skeleton was gently lowered into place signalling the birth of a new Southampton ship in Italy today.

Soon, the bare metal bones will be transformed into a great ocean-going vessel proudly bearing the legendary name of Queen Elizabeth.

When completed she will join Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria in the shipping line’s home port of Southampton next year.

Sold out Queen Elizabeth will be the second largest Cunarder ever built and although she is still at the earliest stages of construction, her maiden voyage in October 2010 is already completely sold out.

The keel laying ceremony, at an Italian shipyard near Trieste, was set to involve the placement, in the dry dock, of the first section of the ship’s hull.

Made up of six pre-manufactured blocks, weighing 364 tons and fitted with 104 tons of pipes, cables, insulation and other equipment, the section is the first of many similar steel assemblies that will be used in building Queen Elizabeth.

The ceremony follows an intensive period of design and development. A total of 53 sections will be used in the construction of Queen Elizabeth and she will take to the water for the first time when she is floated out of the dry-dock in December before her delivery to Cunard next year.

According to Cunard, when Queen Elizabeth arrives in Southampton, she will echo the company’s long established traditions linking her to QM2, Queen Victoria, and their earlier predecessors.

Named after the first Queen Elizabeth, one of Cunard’s greatest ships, the new vessel will reflect her namesake in interior grandeur, décor and style, but with a modern twist.

On board the ship will boast elegant double and triple height public rooms on a grand scale, luxurious wood panelling, intricate mosaics, gleaming chandeliers and cool marbles.

As a successor to the QE2, the ship will also reflect this great liner through artworks and memorabilia, and her own ‘Yacht Club’.

Queen Elizabeth is scheduled to depart on her maiden voyage from Southampton on Tuesday, October 12, 2010. This 13-night celebration will call at Vigo, Lisbon, Cadiz, Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Funchal.

Her maiden season will run from October 2010 to January 2011, and include voyages to the western and central Mediterranean and the Caribbean.

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