Design and Construction
Cunard completed a design for a new class of 84,000 GT, 2,000 passenger liners on 8 June 1998, but revised them upon comparing those specifications with Carnival Cruise Lines' 100,000 GT Destiny class cruise ships and Royal Caribbean International's 137,200 GT Voyager class.
In December 1998, Cunard released details of Project Queen Mary, the project to develop a liner that would complement Queen Elizabeth 2. Harland and Wolff of Northern Ireland, Aker Kværner of Norway, Fincantieri of Italy, Meyer Werft of Germany, and Chantiers de l'Atlantique of France were invited to bid on the project. The contract was finally signed with Chantiers de l'Atlantique, a subsidiary of Alstom, on 6 November 2000. This was the same yard that built Cunard's former rivals, the SS Normandie and SS France of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique.
Her keel was laid down in the Louis Joubert Lock on 4 July 2002, in Saint-Nazaire, France, with the hull number G32. The QM2 was the first ship that used the huge dry-docks after the shipyard built the large tankers in the 1970, such as the MV Gastor. Approximately 3,000 craftsmen spent around eight million working hours on the ship, and around 20,000 people were directly or indirectly involved in her design, construction, and fitting out. In total, 300,000 pieces of steel were assembled into 94 "blocks" off the drydock, which were then stacked and welded together to complete the hull and superstructure.
Queen Mary 2 was floated on 21 March 2003. Her sea trials were conducted between 25 September-29 September and 7–11 November 2003, between Saint-Nazaire and the offshore islands of Ile d'Yeu and Belle-Ile. The final stages of construction were marred by a fatal accident on 15 November 2003, when a gangway collapsed under a group of shipyard workers and their relatives who had been invited to visit the vessel. In total, 32 people were injured and 16 were killed, after a 15-metre (49 ft) fall into the drydock.
Construction was completed on schedule. Cunard took delivery in Southampton, England on 26 December 2003. On 8 January 2004, the liner was named by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
Read more about this topic: RMS Queen Mary 2
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