The last 40 ft. long stabilizer bound for French shipyards to complete the construction of Queen Mary 2 leaves Rolls-Royce’s Dunfermline site this week. Each stabilizer will be loaded on to a flatbed trailer and will require a police escort to Rosyth where it will then be shipped to Chantiers de l’Atlantique in France where the Queen Mary 2 is under construction. The fins, when fitted, will extend from the hull below the ship’s water line to provide enhanced stability at sea.
Rolls-Royce, which manufactures the world-famous Brown Brothers range of ship stabilizers, has taken a year to complete the four 100 ton, folding fin stabilizers- each the size of a two story house for the luxury liner. The Queen Mary 2 will be the world’s largest passenger ship when commissioned in 2003 and will be capable of carrying more than 2,600 passengers.