QE2 Refit Completed In Southampton
Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2\QE2) — flagship of the British merchant flteet — visited the King George V drydock in S<Vthampton, England. The ship entered the drydock, now owned and operated by A&P, for heVbiennial overhaul on Nov. 22, 1996, and reputedly sailed on schedule on Dec. 12.
Much of the 12 million pound refit was routine and statutory maintenance, but tl opportunity was taken to further upgrade a^ number of passenger areas as part of Cunard's continuing strategy to ensure QE2 remains the finest ship afloat.
Planning for the project had been under way for more than 18 months, with a project team working full time, and for the past six months, more than 40 people from both Cunard and A&P were involved in detailed planning. More than 1,000 workers were involved in the refit, operating in two, 12- hour shifts.
In the passenger areas, major refurbishment was undertaken in the Mauritania Restaurant and Princess Grill. The Mauritania Restaurant, which was previously a two-sitting restaurant, was changed to a one-sitting facility. This major improvement was achieved by removing a number of cabins from passenger use, reducing the ship's capacity from 1,750 to 1,500. In the Queen's Room, the principle venue recently for ballroom dancing, a new dance floor was installed to replace the original, 30-year-old model. New carpets were installed in at least six common rooms and several corridors. New marble bathrooms were fitted in 43 cabins. In addition, a new, interactive television system was installed in all cabins.
On the mechanical side, the propellers, stabilizers and rudder were all overhauled, several miles of pipework renewed, a new foreleck installed to repair damage sustained in last year's Hurricane Luis, and work on a n e \ low-level lighting system (part of the requmjments of the new Safety of Life a t| Sea regulations) was completed. Some blasting i^nd re-painting work was also carried out.
According ^o Cunard Director of Sales and Marketing Cathy J a c k s o n , "This refill while relatively\iodest compared with i ne last one, is part orour continuing improvement program to ensWre that these high satisfaction ratings continue, and tharahe ship alade , to >n continues to deserve its ship of the British Merch; The A&P contract, tho approximately seven secured more than 1,00' Southampton yard for tine duration and was won against stiff competition froWi repair yards in Germany^Spain and elsewhere in the flage." be worth pounds, the A&P Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the world cruise, Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 set sail on a w o r l d cruise voyage f r om New York City on January 4. This photograph was taken shortly after the ship's arrival at the New York Cruise Passenger Terminal on that morning.
Passenger rates f o r the 103-day cruise, encompassing 3 7 p o r t s of call including newly instituted stops in t h e United Arab Emirates and Oman, s t a r t e d at a whopping $ 2 8 , 1 2 0 per person, based on double occupancy. photo credit: Bridget Murphythe U.K.
Measuring ^62.9 x 121.6-ft.
(293.52 x 2,2.0l/-m), QE2 fit snugly into the yard's Southampton 1,197.49 yL34.5-ft. (365 x 41.1-m) King George drydock, originally opened/n 1993 and built to accommodate legendary Cunard liners Queermvlary and Queen Elizabeth. Commenting on the arrival of QE2 — the fourth major cruise vessel to be >^fitted at the yard since SeptembV 1996 — A&P Southampton Managing Director David Adam^ s t a t e d : "We have been workiruftowards these cont r a c t s f o ^ ^ h e last two years, investinsfm the people and facilities thai allow us to compete in Europe's^remier league of ship repairers. \ have to applaud the stance takei^by our Group and its shareholders! in approving the investment atla time when our forward orders Iwere measured in terms of houJs, days, or if we were lucky, weeks! Without that investment the yarty would not have survivedGovernor Co., is committed to t he demand for digital electronic systems using the advances^of mil processor technology. ^ I t f e e>l,enJ sive a v a i l a b i l i t j * ^ ' jJpraLlicl mechanical, electronic acluatc and contrAl^illVBS^ retrofitting existing systems without having to change OEM fuel linkage jne governor drives. MSHS an extensive stock of | a r e parts and exchange Turnkey repairs are to eliminate downtime, alid to ensure the equipment maintains maximum cost efficiency.
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