Worlds Largest Cruise Ship.

[vic mcclymont]

They wear GPS wrist bands so they can find their way about the ship.
A cut away drawing of her is featured in the Daily Mal.
Regards
Vic

[Jim Brady]

Brian besides Harland & Wolfe tenders were put in from Norway,Italy,Germany and France and France won the contract.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[John Arton]

The building dock at St. Nazaire was originally built to construct tankers in excess of 100000 tons but with the re-opening of the Suez canal that fell through. They built large gas tankers there for the Algeria-France run to there own patented containment system. In 1961 the manager of a shipyard on the Clyde was actually appointed as its managing director.
The yard has a long history of constructing passenger vessels including the Normandie in 1932. They also built a number of Shell tankers including the one that caught fire and blew up whilst discharging in Bantry Bay.
St. Nazaire is actually twinned with Sunderland (pity the previous U.K. government's could not have had the foresight to support those yards despite EU demanding reduction in U.K. ship building capacity, unlike the French who supported the St. Nazaire yard).
When the ship building yard in Le Havre closed in the 90's many of their workers were offered jobs in St. Nazaire but nearly all refused saying that St. Nazaire was alien to them (so much for freedom of Labour Rules in the EU). The people in Le Havre that I knew (was regular there on my chemical tanker) always said that due to the political climate of Le Havre (communist stronghold if I recall) the French government refused to support that yard, so it closed. Sounds familiar?
The company I was working for built a series of deep sea chemical tankers there but only a few were actually completed. Delays in construction led to the cancellation of the contract after only a couple were built. Those that were are amongst the most luxurious ones in the fleet but boy there was loads of problems during the build with superintendents being attacked once word got out that the contract was being cancelled. The yard were extremely fineckerty over the construction, even to the extent of taking the funnel off one of the nearly completed tankers as the rake on the funnel did not look right!!!!
Always enjoyed going up to Montoir just past that yard, lovely little town with a magnificent church that had been rebuilt after WW2 by the U.K., us having blown it up during bombing raids on the submarine pens in St. Nazaire. Watched the QM2 amongst others, being constructed there.
rgds
JA

[Captain Kong]

Hi Jim
That Is what I was told when I was on the maiden voyage of QM2.
Cheers
Brian

[Jim Brady]

Brian your favourite people the EU !!!.EU rules state Governments are not allowed to subsidise company's such as shipbuilding,is'nt this part of the problem with the steel industry also.The government have had to buy a share in the steel industry if it wants to get involve but not subsidise it,the sooner we get out of this outfit the better.
Regards.
Jim.b.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Brian your favourite people the EU !!!.EU rules state Governments are not allowed to subsidise company's such as shipbuilding,is'nt this part of the problem with the steel industry also.The government have had to buy a share in the steel industry if it wants to get involve but not subsidise it,the sooner we get out of this outfit the better.
Regards.
Jim.b.

Alas Jim, not everyone obeys the rules, Spanish shipyards have been subsidising Spanish shipowners who build their ships in Spanish yards for years , the subsidies are paid to the Spanish local areas with shipyards by the EU as part of a regional development programme, the EU have been trying to take the Spanish Govt to court for years to recover the funds, but to no avail, nor will they succeed. The UK are the only silly barstewards who follow the rules, you can bet your bottom dollar the Spanish have followed a French example

[Jim Brady]

Ivan many of them disobey the rules like the Italians deport undesirables which is against the rules.Soft Johnny Englishman obeys the rules to the letter it's not cricket not to old chap.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[vic mcclymont]

#8 H&W were flat broke at the time of the QM2 order by Cunard.
The Labour Government at the time offered £38M, the total would be paid in installments. H&W wanted the £38m upfront.
They also offered 80% loan of the £480m of the amount that it would cost to build the ship.
It wasn't enough for H&W, they wanted more, Labour Government pointed out that the amounts offered were the maximum that they could pay under EU rules.
St Nazaire won the contract. There was a feeling that Cunard were string H&W along, but couldn't be proved.
regards
Vic

[Jim Brady]

Vic was the £38M a loan or subsidy.?
Regards.
Jim.B.

[vic mcclymont]

Jim, I believe that they were both loans. Subsidies are supposedly banned under EU rules.
Regards
Vic