Patrick Boissier News

Cunard officially took delivery today of Queen Mary 2 -- the largest (151,400 tons), longest (1,132 feet/345 metres), tallest (236 feet/72 metres), widest (135 feet/41 metres) and most expensive ($800 million) ocean liner ever built. Queen Mary 2 is the first true transatlantic liner to have been built since the line's legendary Queen Elizabeth 2 entered service in May 1969. The historic ceremony at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard here included the symbolic changing of the flag where the Blue ensign and the Cunard house flag -- a gold lion rampant on a red background -- were raised.

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)has given the go-ahead for construction of a new generation of ships by signing an order with Alstom Marine for two cruise ships and the option for a third sister ship. The first of the new ships will be delivered in June 2006, and the second will become ready in spring 2007. MSC Crociere is thus continuing to expand its fleet, and getting ready to tackle the 2004 Mediterranean season as the true leader of cruises. The new order carries the only totally Italian company into the world cruise scene, presenting itself on the market with an increasingly satisfactory and competitive fleet: 3 ships up until 2002, 4 in 2003, 5 in 2004 and the new order that increases the number of ships to 7 by 2007, with an eighth ship as option.

At the AWES and CESA annual meetings held in Nyborg, Denmark on May 16 and 17, shipyards and their associations from 15 European Countries discussed the situation in shipbuilding and related policies. Concern was expressed acknowledging recent developments regarding the trade dispute between the European Union and the Republic of Korea over illegal subsidies to the Korean shipbuilding industry. This dispute is going on since three years without any progress, leaving shipyards in Europe with great uncertainty over the framework they have to operate in. Neither side has taken any concrete action – Korea has not changed its unsustainable business practises and the European Union have not launched any counter measures.

At a recent meeting of top European shipbuilding executives it must have seemed like déjà vu times three, as Korean shipbuilding subsidies and their disastrous effect on ship pricing in general, and the European shipbuilding community specifically, topped the agenda. At the AWES and CESA annual meetings held in Nyborg, Denmark on May 16-17, shipyards and their associations from 15 European Countries discussed the situation in shipbuilding and related policies. The dispute is anything but new, with Europeans alleging subsidies and the South Koreans denying them. During its 57th General Assembly, AWES, the Association of European Shipbuilders and Shiprepairers also welcomed as new AWES member the Association of Croatian Shipbuilders and Shiprepairers.

Cunard Line celebrated a milestone when a prefabricated section of the keel was lowered into the building dock of Queen Mary 2. The new $800-million Cunard flagship will enter service in January 2004 and will be the largest, longest, tallest and most expensive passenger ship ever built. The keel is the lower part of the outer hull and is the base of the ship upon which everything else is built. date of its official ceremony because it is 162 years to the day that its first ship, Britannia, sailed from Liverpool on her maiden voyage to Halifax and Boston. The first liner to be built since the line's Queen Elizabeth 2 entered service in 1969…

Aker Yards and ALSTOM will join forces in shipbuilding, seeking to create a shipbuilding leader focused on high value added ships, including cruise ships. The companies plan to establish a new company consisting of the shipyards in Saint-Nazaire and Lorient. Aker Yards will own 75 percent of the new company, and ALSTOM will keep the remaining 25 percent until 2010. Aker Yards currently has 13 yards in five countries. The new company will offer some unique synergies, particularly on the cruise market segment, where Italy’s Fincantieri has dominated in recent years. The combined French and Finnish builders have produced a number of world class cruise ships through the years, including icons such as SS France, Queen Mary 2, the Voyager class and the Freedom class ships.

Alstom signed a contract worth $1.17B to build two cruise ships for Italian line MSC in a deal which might avert restructuring of its shipbuilding business following the near bankruptcy of the group last year. The order for the ships, which will each measure 1,106 ft. in length and offer 1,650 cabins, was signed by the chief executive of MSC, Pierre Francesco Vago and his counterpart from Alstom Marine, Patrick Boissier, during a press conference on Monday. The giant liners will be slightly smaller than the 345-metre Queen Mary 2, the biggest cruise ship in the world. They will be built in the shipyard in the French port of Saint Nazaire where the Queen Mary 2 was launched last year.

No stranger to the cruising industry, Pamela Conover, president and COO of Cunard Line Ltd. Could undoubtedly be the reason behind the company’s continual ability to capture and hold on to the rich British history that it has sustained since its establishment in 1840. More than 150 years later, Cunard, with Conover’s leadership continues to uphold this identity specifically with its illustrious 1,131-ft. (345-m) ocean liner Queen Mary 2. Scheduled for delivery in 2004, the vessel promises to be reminiscent of the glory days of when the trans-Atlantic crossing ruled the seas. Queen Mary 2 is arguably the most prestigious cruise project to date. The vessel, which will measure 1,131 ft. (345 m) with a 131-ft.