CUNARD Line has unveiled plans to launch the world’s largest passenger ship in 2003.
The company claims the ocean liner, dubbed Project Queen Mary, will be bigger than Royal Caribbean’s latest 142,000-tonne vessel Voyager of the Seas, which is currently the largest passenger ship in the world. The ship will have the capacity to carry 2,500 passengers on transatlantic voyages, sailing at speeds of up to 30 knots. Cunard president Larry Pimentel said the ocean liner would be very different from other cruise ships being built at present.
“Modern cruise ships stick more closely to ports of call which they visit on an almost daily basis,” he said. “We believe there is a growing audience for the drama, elegance and shipboard ambience exemplified by sailing aboard a true Atlantic ocean liner.”
The name of the new liner and the shipyard chosen to build it will be announced in early January.
Meanwhile, Cunard’s director of worldwide sales, Hans Rood, is transferring to the company’s Southampton office in January to become regional vice-president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
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