Running Head: QUEEN MARY 2 1
QUEEN MARY 2 14
Queen Mary 2
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Abstract
The 21st century Queen Mary 2 ocean liner designed by Cunard Line ushered in the new era of massive and elegant passenger ship development. The ship was appealing both in style and size for the people who fancied ocean voyage. The Cunard tradition of developing ocean liners had taken over thirty years before deciding to design the ultimate ship that changed the entire game. The exterior and interior designs of this ship were meant to be unique in such a way that could differentiate the ship from its predecessors. Queen Mary 2 took the features of both Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth II ocean liners and harmonized them making it bigger and faster than all the older versions. The final result of Cunard Line’s endeavors was the successful launching of the ocean liner that made a difference. Moreover, the many voyages traversed by Queen Mary oceanic liner can be said to be the accumulative achievement of the entire project. This paper seeks to illustrate the historical development and transition of the modern and elegant ship, Queen Mary 2.
1.0 Introduction
Queen Mary 2 was known by the world as ‘Project Queen Mary’ as of June 1999. According to the initial plan, it was going to be the largest Ocean Liner to have ever been built. It was expected to be the next version of Ocean Liner that would act as an evolution landmark. According to Larry Pimentel, who was then the COO of Cunard, the project would result in the development of a unique liner which would be not only the heaviest but also the epitome of style. It was going to represent the next generation of ocean liners that would revolutionize the art of ship building. According to Larry, this was like a dream come true for ocean liner technology. For those who missed the times where sea travel was nothing but fun, the ‘Project Queen Mary’ was viewed as a revived Golden Age of sea travel.
The initial announcement was followed by a series of meetings that were made up of the key players in the project. These meetings were meant to bring together the planning team that participated in the design and development of the concept into features that would be part of the ocean liner. The planning team developed the design features from the older model of Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liner that had been built 30 years earlier. The new design featured improvements that rendered Queen Mary 2 the dream oceanic liner.
Figure 1: Queen Mary 2
1.1 History and development of the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner
As mentioned earlier, the construction of Queen Mary 2 started in 1999 taking over from the initial plan of its predecessor, Queen Elizabeth 2 that was built in 1969 (McDaniel 2015). Initially, Queen Elizabeth 2 was Cunard Line’s flagship project that had served for thirty years without replacement. However, after careful considerations, the plans to develop the largest modern ship that would be used for cruising the world were converted into the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner.
Queen Elizabeth II named this ship on January 12, 2004. The day was historic for both the Great Britain and Cunard Line since it marked the launching of a mixture of elegance and style in ship manufacturing history. At that time, Queen Mary 2 departed on her Maiden Voyage from Cunard’s home port in Southampton. The largest, widest and the most expensive ship by that time took over the sea thus indicating the beginning of the new era of ocean liners manufacturing. The liner cost a total of US$800 million and had the capacity to carry 3100 passengers and more than 1000 crew members (Dowling 2006, pg. 4).
It took fourteen days for Queen Mary 2 to arrive at the Fort Lauderdale in the U.S. This marked the success of Cunard Line because the reception the Queen received at the American port was more than just a sign of appreciation. During the same year that Queen Mary 2 was launched, it offered seventeen crossings among them being 9 Caribbean cruises, 5 European cruises, 2 in Canada and America and a to and fro voyage to the Brazilian port of Rio (Cunard 2015).
Queen Mary 2 played an essential role in the 2004 Olympic Games that were held in Athens, Greece. Among the people who were accommodated by her during this period were the former U.S President George Bush, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, the French President Jacques Chirac and athletes’ families. She also accommodated the United States of America basketball team during the same period thus making the security at the port Piraeus tight (Cunard 2015).
The historic achievements of the Queen Mary 2 liner also involve the carrying of the first signed copy of Rowling’s book Harry Potter in 2005.
2.0 Critical analysis and discussion
The performance of Queen Mary 2 oceanic liner can be analyzed in terms of the overall time the ship has sailed without failure. It can also be looked at in terms of the safety measures the manufacturing company has put in place to enhance environmental sustainability. All these attributes are discussed below under the next subtopics.
2.1 Operational requirements
One of the major characteristics that distinguish Queen Mary 2 from other ships that had been built earlier is that it is not a steamship. It is primarily powered by four interconnected Diesel engines and has two additional gas turbines. These gas turbines are utilized when extra power to propel the ship is needed. The propulsion configuration of the liner produces the required power to drive all the propulsion pods and also to sustain the hotel services (Cunard 2010).
The operation speed of Queen Mary 2 in an open ocean is 56km/h (35mph) which sets it above the other cruise ships. According to the Cunard report (2010), Queen Mary 2 has an average service speed of around 48km/h (30mph) which is exceptionally good for such large vessel.
2.2 Structural design, Construction, and Layout
Queen Mary 2 is not a cruise ship but rather she is an ocean liner that has a deep hull and sharp bow (). She was built in a manner that allows her to withstand the worst conditions that she could be exposed to by the sea. The primary designer of QM2 was Steven Payne who shaped her in such a way that passengers are protected from every possible harm brought about by the waves. The initial design by Cunard Line as per June 1998 was a 2,000 passenger liner of 84,000 GT. However, the later considerations made Cunard adjust the initial design to complement Queen Elizabeth II and carry more passengers. The contract to develop the liner from the final plan was awarded to Chantiers de l’Atlantique of France (Plisson 2004; Payne, Dallinga, and Gaillarde 2003).
2.2.0 Design of QM2
2.2.0a Exterior Design
The exterior design architect of the ship was none other than Stephen Payne (Cunard). He had planned to design a cruiser that would take after the aspects of the Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner. He also had plans to incorporate features of the Queen Mary that included the three thick lines that were on the first ship’s bridge screen and the original end of the hull (Maxtone-Graham 2004).
The common exterior features that link the Queen Mary 2 with its predecessor ocean liner Queen Mary is the promenade deck that is present on Deck 7. This gives the passengers a chance to walk along the deck without being affected by the adamant winds that are developed as a result of the ship speed. In addition to the deck, the extra flanking promenades on the exterior of the Queen Mary 2 are meant to provide space for the lifeboats that are expected to be on the lower part of the liner’s hull (Mazorra 2004). Payne made sure that his design was accepted by the officials in charge because he considered the possible effects of the North Atlantic waves.
Figure 2: Exterior Design of Queen Mary 2
The initial plan by Payne also involved shaping the liner based on its predecessor’s spoon shape. However, to ensure that the liner was exceptional, a flat transform for mounting of the propeller pods had to be designed. This design catered for the sea holding characteristics of the liner. The design also involved the bulbous bow that is also present on most ships. The bulbous bow in the design of Queen Mary was meant to increase the speed and liner efficiency by decreasing the overall drag (Maxtone-Graham 2004).
As compared to the design of Queen Elizabeth II, the funnel of Queen Mary 2 is said to have a different shape that renders it shorter and efficient. Additionally, Queen Mary 2 has tenders that are used to ferry passengers to the shore. These exterior tenders play the role of transporting passengers as opposed to Queen Mary 2’s being too large to perform the task.
2.2.0b Interior design
Queen Mary 2 is similar to most passenger ships when it comes to the public rooms that are situated at the lower decks and having the passenger cabins lined above (Alistair 2009). This design enhanced large room inclusion in the stronger hull with an allowance for the creation of balconies for the passenger cabins. The placement of the dining rooms further aft was to reduce the possibility of the passenger discomfort brought about by the pitching of the ship.
In the interior design of the liner, the Deck 2 as per Payne’s design held the theater, planetarium and the cinema which happened to be the first of this kind. For instance, the Grand Lobby, the Empire Casino and Britannia restaurant on Deck 2 offered these services. On the other hand, Deck 3 hosts the “Royal Court theater”, the “G32” Nightclub, the “Queen’s Room” and the “Chartroom” among others. Finally, Deck 7 which is also accessible by all passengers has facilities such as the “King’s Court”, the “Queen’s Grill” and the “Canyon Ranch Spa” among others. Deck 8 also has a few public rooms such as the 8,000 volume library and a large outdoor pool (QM2 Todd English 2). In the Queen Mary 2, the King’s Court area is normally open throughout the day and night and serves the passengers both breakfast and lunch in the form of a buffet.
Figure 3: Interior Design of Queen Mary 2
In the interior design of the ship, a tower called Deck 3L was designed to give way for passengers to walk freely without crossing the dining room when moving from the Grand Lobby to the Queen’s Room and vice versa. Moreover, the interior design of the ship consists of over 5000 artistic works in the rooms. The portraits in these rooms were collected from international artists and placed in the rooms and corridors. For instance, the magnificent bronze sculpture by John McKenna was put in the Grand Lobby (Gaynor 2005).
2.2.1 Queen Mary 2 Ship Construction
At the initial stages of construction, the keel was laid down at SainNazaire, France. The principal material used in the construction of the ship was steel. A total of 300,000 pieces of steel were used in assembling and finally welding of the final hull of the vessel (Plisson 2004; Chanev 2015). The design took over a million hours to be completed with around 20,000 people working on the design and construction of the ship.
As compared to the hull of a typical ocean liner ship which has a block coefficient of around 0.73, Queen Mary 2 has an overall block coefficient of 0.61 (Mathisen 2003-2004). Her steel hull is made up of 94 blocks and the weight of the reaches adding up to over 600 tons. The construction of the hull took over 1500 km of welding to form a massive 50,000 tons hull. The hull took over 20,000 L of paint to be completed (Chanev 2015).
The ceremony of laying the first section of the QM2 was presided by Captain Ronald Warwick of the Cunard Line. The ceremony involved the old maritime ceremony that made use of one English and one French coin. The two coins were put in the keel as a sign of wishing the ship and its passengers luck (Chanev 2015).
The initial sea trials began in September 2003 on the coast of France. However, the final stages of construction involved a fatal accident that happened on a family day. A gangway collapsed on some workers who were there with their relatives and claimed the lives of 15 people with over 30 more injured (Chanev 2015). This did not stop the construction of the ship since it had to be finished on schedule.
2.2.2 Layout
The overall layout of the QM2 ocean liner involves a passenger capacity of 2,620, a crew capacity of 1,254 comprising of over 50 different nationalities and has a space ratio of 57,25 (Chanev 2015). The passenger decks are specified and they add up to 14 out of all the 17 available. The total exterior deck space is 152,420 square ft having 1,296 total passenger cabins divided into suites, balconies, inside, outside and inside cabins. The engines generate an average of 157,000 horsepower. The total number of 2 gas turbines and 4 diesel engines that are environmental friendly help in the propulsion of QM2 with the help of 4 pods and 3 thrusters. The steel hull is designed rigidly using extra thick material (Chanev 2015).
Figure 4: Queen Mary 2 Layout
2.3 Propulsion system
The power plant of Queen Mary 2 has four 16-cylinder Wärtsilä Diesel engines and two GE LM2500+ gas turbines that generate 90,100 hp and 67,000 hp respectively. The four diesel engines produce the 90,100 hp at 514 revs/min. All the electric power generated is utilized in powering the electric motors that in turn drive the propellers. This combined generation and utilization of electrical energy by Queen Mary 2 cruiser to propel the ship is known as integrated electric propulsion (Chanev 2015). This form of propulsion allows economical cruising that occurs at a lower speed with an extra ability to sustain considerably higher speeds if need be. The integrated electric propulsion mechanism can be said to have been first launched in the Queen Mary 2 liner that replaced the use of only gas turbines for the propulsion of the passenger ships.
In addition to the propulsion mechanism of the Queen Mary 2 liner, four Rolls-Royce thruster propulsion units are used to provide thrust for the ship. The difference between the forward thrusters and the aft pair is that the forward are fixed while the rest are allowed to swivel through an angle of 360 degrees. This ability to swivel through 360 degrees eliminates the need to have a rudder (Queen Mary 2 2004).
The electrically decoupled from propellers propulsion machinery of Queen Mary 2 offers it the double advantage of using both the turbo and diesel generators. In this mechanism, both the diesel engines and gas turbines take part in driving electric generators that in turn drive the four 28,800 hp motors that are available in the propellers (Cunard 2010). Moreover, the gas turbines of this cruiser are underneath the funnel protected by a soundproof enclosure. In other words, the gas turbines are not housed at the same point with the diesel engines.
2.4 Safety/Certification/Classification
The design of Queen Mary 2 was aimed at ensuring a significant reduction in the overall ship environmental pollution. This was to be achieved through improvement in fuel efficiency and also enhancing proper waste management in order to increase the ship’s service life. The original environmental safety targets involved reusing of the treated waste water and ensuring that no solid waste could be discharged into the sea. However, some of the measures failed to be implemented as a result of both the economic and energy consumption reasons.
However, apart from the few environmental cases, Queen Mary 2 exceeds the environmental pollution prevention strategies of its predecessor liners. This is evident through the ship’s discharge policy which involves releasing the waste products at designated locations in the sea. The ship was alternatively designed to switch automatically to low sulfur fuel to reduce air pollution in places that experience sulfur dioxide pollutants in large amounts (Cunard. “RMS Queen Mary 2 Technical Specification”). Furthermore, Cunard’s central idea of reducing environmental pollution was based on reducing carbon emission by improving the overall efficiency of the engine and ensuring that the friction is reduced as the ship moves.
2.5 Outcome/success of design
It is clear that the success of QM2 on the Atlantic can be linked to its design. The outstanding history of service since its official launch on January 20, 2004 to date has been contributed by the elegant design work. Under the command of Captain Warwick during the maiden voyage until the present day, she has been in good condition with a few failures that occur when maintenance is not done on time. The hotel services and the transatlantic crossing are the clear sign that the overall design of QM2 is a success. The journeys across the Atlantic over the years with clear observation of the safety precautions by the crew indicate the positive outcome of her design.
3.0 Conclusion
In the words of the President of Cunard Line, Queen Mary 2 is the guardian of the company’s heritage. It is evident that the overall success that she has achieved over the twelve years of service can be attributed to her design. She is more than just an elegant ocean liner but also a successful modern ship of the future. Apart from the few failure scenarios, QM2 still holds the true sense of Cunard Line’s heritage. Furthermore, the unique qualities that she holds over the other ocean liners makes her worth the reception she gets from her loyal passengers and crew. At last, QM2’s elegance and style deserves to receive enormous success in future. All these accolades will finally be directed to the excellent design work done to produce such a masterpiece.
References
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