“RULE Britannia” – so says the Daily Echo headline (March 11) referring to the newest Italian-built cruise liner P&O have acquired to be berthed in Southampton and named by the Queen in a selected guest-only ceremony.

So, apart from the fact that I happen to be a royalist at heart and would welcome our Queen to the city, what exactly have the normal Southampton citizen got to go crazy about?

What has this occasion or the ship done for the people of Southampton apart from giving jobs for the few officers who man her (the rest of the crew, I believe, are Indian and Filipino). Also the parent company and the ship itself is actually American owned.

So here we have an Italian-built vessel owned by the Americans and based in Southampton (big deal).

I’m not about to go crazy about it, I’m a realist!

I spent ten years at sea in the days when we had a British merchant navy, something we’ll probably never have again.

I wonder, incidentally, what was going through Her Majesty’s mind as she gave this vessel the name her own royal yacht once carried.

L A O’BEE, Southampton.

 AMONG thousands of people, I watched Britannia come into Southampton and what a fine bit of engineering she is. Another skyscraper in the sea.

One thing puzzled me, however: |if there are some 5,000 people onboard I only counted eight large lifeboats on one side.

My maths are not too good but it seems to me there would be a bit of a crush if she ever needed them. The Titanic looked just about as majestic but the designers decided that looks were more important than safety. Could someone put my mind at rest?

MICHAEL LATTER, Durley.

Editor’s note: Rest assured all ships within the P&O fleet have enough safety equipment, including lifeboat accommodation, to support all of the ships’ passengers and crew sailing at full capacity should the need ever arise.