The sheer scale of Queen Mary 2 makes it one of the most important industrial projects of this century and next year the 150,000 ton passenger liner will make her dramatic entrance in Southampton.

Its roots can be found in a past age of luxury, elegance and style, but the ship became a reality in a vast, cold industrial machine shop in France.

Up to now Queen Mary 2, the most exciting and prestigious passenger liner the world has ever seen, has been only a vision on a designer's drawing board but now this amazing project is beginning to actually take shape.

In less than two years' time, in December 2003 the megaliner is due alongside her berth in Southampton as she arrives in her home port for the first time.

Between now and that momentous day the vessel, hailed as the largest, widest, tallest, longest and most expensive in passenger shipping history, will be created deck by deck and cabin by cabin in the Alstom Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard at St Nazaire.

The fact that Cunard has chosen to continue its long-established connection with Southampton and pick the docks to be the home port for this record-breaking ship is an enormous boost to the reputation of the city as a leading global centre for the international cruising industry.

Every year millions of pounds are generated by Southampton-based ships which pour huge amounts of cash into the local and regional economy by using local supplies and services as well as safeguarding thousands of shore-based and sea-going jobs.

One industry expert estimates QM2 will inject around £75m annually into the many businesses in and around the city, including engineering and maritime support companies, food and drink wholesalers, hotel and transport operators.

With the press of a button, Pam Conover, the famous shipping line's president and chief operating officer, started the cutting of the steel to be used in the construction of QM2.

The vessel, with a half-a-billion-pound price tag, will be the first true ocean-going liner, as opposed to a modern-day cruise ship, to be built for more than three decades and she will be the fastest passenger ship since Southampton's flagship of the British merchant marine, Queen Elizabeth 2, entered service in 1969.

Although equipped with the most up-to-date, sophisticated navigation, propulsion and communication equipment, QM2's design will echo the look and atmosphere of the past, great Atlantic Cunarders central to Southampton's maritime heritage.

QM2 will feature classic Cunard hallmarks of grand staircases, expansive promenades, gracious public rooms and restaurants, all on an imposing scale. Although QM2 will carry the name of Southampton on her side and fly the Red Ensign, no British shipyard was able to successfully compete to build such a complex project and so, unlike so many of her forerunners such as the original Queen Mary, this vessel will emerge from a French shipyard.

Early in the liner's development period there was a suggestion that Belfast's Harland and Wolff shipyard might be in the running to build the ship but the company had to drop out of the contract race despite intense negotiations between Cunard and the British government.

With the decline of the British shipbuilding industry and the disappearance of UK yards, the expertise and experience needed to construct today's highly-sophisticated vessels, and the ability to submit cheaper tenders, now lies with continental European operations. Although at present QM2 is nothing more than a collection of steel sheets, thousands of potential passengers have already contacted Cunard, some even sending in blank cheques, all anxious to have a place on the ship's historic maiden voyage from Southampton.

Once QM2 is in service linking Southampton and New York it is expected that QE2, which has reigned supreme in the Atlantic for so many years and which still has a long life in front of her, will undertake line voyages to destinations such as South Africa, the Far East, South America and Australasia.

"This means an investment not only in the transatlantic tradition but one in the classic line voyages that still evoke strong memories today,'' said Ms Conover.

Fact file

Cruise Line: Cunard

Construction: Alstom Chantiers de l'Atlantique, France

Entering Service: Early 2004

Tonnage: 150,000 tons

Length: 1,132 feet

Beam: 135 feet

Height: 236 feet

Draft: 32 feet eight inches

Passengers: 2,620

Crew: 1,254

Top Speed: Approx. 30 knots

Strength: Extra thick steel hull for Atlantic crossings

Stabilisers: Two sets

Queen Mary 2 will be:

Longer than three football pitches

Half as long again as London's Canary Wharf Tower is high

Three times as long as St. Paul's Cathedral

Three-and-a-half times as long as the tower of Big Ben

Longer than 36 double decker buses

Only 117ft shorter than New York's Empire State Building

Once around QM2's 360 degree promenade deck is well over a third of a mile

Her power plant will produce electricity to light a city the size of Southampton

Her engines will produce 157,000 horsepower - more than 1,500 saloon cars

Published 28/01/0002