The departure of R8 on her maiden voyage will signal the end of an eight-ship contract for Hampshire-based International Inter-iors Limited of March-wood.

International Interiors has provided all of the Renaissance Cruises' vessels in the class with soft furnishings, joinery and upholstery.

The project, the largest awarded to a British company by Renaissance, has been carried out over 30 months at Marchwood, involving the use of more than 50,000 sq metres of fabrics.

As a part of the contract, International Interiors had to produce some 6,000 quilted bedcovers and, as quality standards were so high, it installed a computerised, quilting sewing bed to produce the materials in-house.

Geoff Street, International Interiors' managing director, said: "Quality standards were paramount to the successful conclusion of this contract.''

As the R8 work is concluded, International Interiors continues with a full order book of work, having just completed refurbishing contracts for Stena, Fred Olsen, WightLink and Red Funnel ferries.