Kvaerner Masayards News

Cunard Line says it has five bids from European shipyards to build the Queen Mary 2, a rare new transatlantic liner that will rank with the world's largest passenger ships upon its completion in 2003. "Some yards are quoting bids in euros, some in D-marks, some in pound sterling," Cunard Line President Larry Pimentel said. Pimentel declined to identify the shipyards in a brief interview after a news conference aboard Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 but said all bidders were based in Europe. He also declined to provide details of the bids or finances for the planned Queen Mary 2, a successor with a "wedding cake" profile to the Queen Mary, built in 1936 for Cunard-White Star Line. The company announced plans to build the Queen Mary 2 in November.

Cunard Line says it has five bids from European shipyards to build the Queen Mary 2, a rare new transatlantic liner that will rank with the world's largest passenger ships upon its completion in 2003. Cunard’s president Larry Pimentel was quoted as saying the a letter of intent should be forthcoming in the next few weeks, or month. All of the shipyards bidding are reportedly based in Europe. The original Queen Mary, built in a British shipyard, is now a floating hotel in southern California. Pimentel said at the news conference the Queen Mary 2 would carry 2,500 passengers, would be extremely long and built along sleek lines to speed voyages across the northern Atlantic.