RMS Queen Mary 2

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For other ships called Queen Mary, see Queen Mary (ship).

The "Queen Mary 2", seen from off her port bow
Career
Name:	RMS Queen Mary 2
Owner:	Cunard Line[1]
Operator:	Cunard Line
Port of Registry:	Southampton,  United Kingdom
Ordered:	6 November 2000
Builder:	Chantiers de l'Atlantique
Cost:	UK £460 million  (€700 million)  (US $900 million)
Laid down:	4 July 2002
Launched:	21 March 2003
Christened:	8 January 2004  by Queen Elizabeth II
Maiden voyage:	12 January 2004
Identification:	IMO number 9241061, Callsign GBQM
Status:	in service
General characteristics
Tonnage:	151,400 gross tons[2]
Displacement:	76,000 tonnes (approx)
Length:	1,132 ft (345 m)
Beam:	135 ft (41 m) waterline,  147.5 ft (45.0 m) extreme (bridge wings)
Height:	236.2 ft (72.0 m) keel to funnel
Draft:	33 ft (10.1 m)
Decks:	13 passenger decks[2]
Installed power:	117 MW (157,000 horsepower) CODAG
Propulsion:	Four 21.5 MW electric propulsion pods:  2 fixed and 2 azimuthing
Speed:	29.62 knots (54.86 km/h; 34.09 mph)[3]
Capacity:	2,620 passengers
Crew:	1,253 officers and crew

The RMS Queen Mary 2 is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner Queen Mary, which was in turn named after Mary of Teck, the Queen Consort of George V. It does not commemorate the reign of Queen Mary II. At the time of her construction in 2003 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique, the Queen Mary 2 was the longest, widest and tallest passenger ship ever built, and at gross tonnage (GT) of 148,528 tons, was also the largest. She lost the gross tonnage distinction to Royal Caribbean International's 154,407 GT Freedom of the Seas in April 2006, but Queen Mary 2 remains the largest ocean liner (as opposed to cruise ship) ever built, and her width, length, and waterline breadth are unsurpassed by any other passenger ship.^[4] Moreover, the Queen Mary 2 displaces approximately 76,000 tons; the Royal Caribbean Freedom ships displace about 64,000 tons. The Queen Mary 2 was the first major ocean liner built since the Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1969.

Queen Mary 2's facilities include 15 restaurants and bars, five swimming pools, a casino, a ballroom, a theatre, and a planetarium.

Contents 1 Characteristics 2 History 2.1 Concept and construction 2.2 Service history 3 Design 3.1 Exterior 3.2 Interior 3.2.1 The Boston Cup 3.3 General hotel statistics 4 Technical 4.1 Power plant and propulsion system 4.1.1 Air conditioning 4.2 Water supply 5 Environmental performance 5.1 Greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution 5.2 Wastewater disposal 5.3 Solid waste disposal 5.4 Environmental monitoring and compliance 6 Media appearances 7 Footnotes 8 External links

[edit] Characteristics

The Queen Mary 2 is the current Cunard flagship and makes regular transatlantic crossings. The ship was constructed to complement the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, the Cunard flagship from 1969 to 2004—replacing it on the transatlantic route. The first RMS Queen Mary sailed the Atlantic from 1936 to 1967. Queen Mary 2 had the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) title conferred on her, as a gesture to Cunard's history, by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route.^[5]

The Queen Mary 2 is not a steamship like her predecessors, but is powered by gas turbines and diesel engines that produce the power to drive her four electric propulsion pods. Like her predecessors, however, she is built for crossing the Atlantic ocean, though she is regularly used for cruising purposes; in the winter season she cruises from New York to the Caribbean on 10 or 13 day tours. Queen Mary 2's 30-knot (56 km/h; 35 mph) open ocean speed sets the ship apart from cruise ships, such as Freedom of the Seas, which has an average speed of 21.6 knots (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph).

[edit] History

[edit] Concept and construction

Cunard completed a design for a new class of 84,000-ton, 2,000-passenger liners on 8 June 1998, but immediately revised them upon comparing those specifications with Carnival Cruise Lines' 100,000-ton Destiny-class cruise ships and Royal Caribbean's 137,200-ton Voyager of the Seas.

Six months later, on 10 December, Cunard released details of Project Queen Mary, the project to develop a liner that would complement Queen Elizabeth 2. Harland and Wolff of Northern Ireland, Aker Kværner of Norway, Fincantieri of Italy, Meyer Werft of Germany, and Chantiers de l'Atlantique of France were invited to bid on the project. If construction began immediately, the liner could be in service by 2002. But it was not until 6 November 2000, that a contract was signed with Chantiers de l'Atlantique, a subsidiary of Alstom. This was the same yard that built Cunard's one-time rivals, the SS Normandie and SS France of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique.

Her keel was laid down in the Louis Joubert Lock on 4 July 2002, in Saint-Nazaire, France, with the hull number G32. Approximately 3,000 craftsmen spent some 8 million working hours on the ship, and a total of 20,000 people were directly or indirectly involved in her design, construction, and fitting out. In total, 300,000 pieces of steel were assembled into 94 "blocks" off of the drydock, which were then stacked and welded together to complete the hull and superstructure.^[6] She is so much larger than the ships that Chantiers normally build that the shipyard treated her as "1.6 ships."^[7]

The Queen Mary 2 was floated on 21 March 2003. Her sea trials were conducted between 25 September-29 September and 7 November-11 November 2003,^[8] between Saint-Nazaire and the off-shore islands of Ile d'Yeu and Belle-Ile. The final stages of construction were marred by a fatal accident on 15 November 2003, when a gangway collapsed under a group of shipyard workers and their relatives who had been invited to visit the vessel. 48 people on the gangway fell over 15 m (50 ft); 32 were injured and 16 were killed.^[9]

Construction was completed on schedule. Due to the size of the ship, the luxury of materials, and the fact that, due to her nature as an ocean liner, she required 40% more steel than a standard cruise ship, the final cost ended up being approximately $300,000 US per berth - nearly double that of ships such as Voyager of the Seas, Grand Princess, or Carnival Conquest.^[10]

Cunard took delivery in Southampton, England on 26 December 2003. On 8 January 2004, the liner was named Queen Mary 2 by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.^[11]

[edit] Service history

On 12 January 2004 the Queen Mary 2 set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the United States, carrying 2,620 passengers under the command of captain Ronald Warwick, who had previously commanded the Queen Elizabeth 2. Warwick is the son of William (Bil) Warwick who had also been a Cunard officer and had also been the Queen Elizabeth 2's ships first captain. The ship arrived in Southampton late from her maiden voyage after bow doors which covered the thrusters failed to shut in Portugal. ^[12]

During the XXVIII Olympics the Queen Mary 2 sailed to Athens and docked at Piraeus for two weeks for use as a hotel-ship, serving the then Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, the French President Jacques Chirac, former US president George H. W. Bush, and the US Olympic men's basketball team.^[13][14]

One 2005 transatlantic crossing saw the Queen Mary 2 carrying, in a locked steamer trunk, the first US copy of J. K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, autographed by the author. In a promotional press release for the event, Cunard said (though without cited verification) that this marked the first time a book had been transported to its international launch aboard an ocean liner.^[15]

In January 2006 the Queen Mary 2 embarked on a circumnavigation of South America (the ship is too large to pass through the Panama Canal). Upon departure from Fort Lauderdale one of her propeller pods was damaged when it struck a channel wall, forcing the ship to sail at a reduced speed, which resulted in Commodore Warwick's decision to skip several calls on its voyage to Rio de Janeiro. Many of her passengers threatened to stage a sit-in protest because of the missed calls, before Cunard offered to refund the voyage costs. The Queen Mary 2 continued to operate at a reduced service speed, and several itinerary changes were necessary until repairs had been completed after the ship returned to Europe in June, where the Queen Mary 2 paid a visit to dry dock, and the damaged propeller pod was unseated.^[16] In November the Queen Mary 2 was dry-docked once more at the Blohm + Voss yard in Hamburg (drydock Elbe 17) for the reinstallation of the repaired propeller pod. At the same time, sprinkler systems were installed in all of the vessel's balconies to comply with new safety regulations which had come into effect since the MV Star Princess fire. Additionally, both bridge wings were extended by 2 metres to improve visibility.

After completing the journey around South America, on 23 February 2006, the Queen Mary 2 met her namesake, the original RMS Queen Mary, which is permanently docked at Long Beach, California. Escorted by a flotilla of smaller ships, the two Queens exchanged a "whistle salute" which was heard throughout the city of Long Beach.

On 10 January 2007 the Queen Mary 2 started her first world cruise, circling the globe in 81 days. On 20 February, she met her fleet-mate, the Queen Elizabeth 2, also on her 2007 world cruise, in Sydney harbour.^[17][18] This is the first time two Cunard Queens had been together in Sydney since the original Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth served as troop ships in 1941.^[19] Despite the early arrival time of 5:42 am, the Queen Mary 2's presence attracted so many viewers that the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Anzac Bridge were blocked.^[20] With 1,600 passengers leaving the ships in Sydney, Cunard estimated the stopovers injected more than $1 million into the local economy.

On 3 August 2007 three men were arrested while piloting and escorting a replica of a Turtle within 200 feet (61 m) of the Queen Mary 2 without authorization at New York City's cruise ship terminal.^[21]

The Queen Mary 2 met the Queen Victoria and the Queen Elizabeth 2 near the Statue of Liberty in New York City harbour on 13 January 2008, with a celebratory fireworks display; the Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Victoria made a tandem crossing of the Atlantic for the meet. This marked the first time three Cunard Queens have been present in the same location. Cunard purported this to be the last time these three ships will ever meet,^[22] due to the Queen Elizabeth 2's impending retirement from service in late 2008.^[23] However this would not prove to be the case as the three Queens once again met in Southampton on 22 April 2008.^[24][25]

Famous passengers and/or guests of the Queen Mary 2 include Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, former French President Jacques Chirac, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, jazz musician Dave Brubeck, former US president George H. W. Bush, comedian and actor John Cleese, actor Richard Dreyfuss, author and editor Harold Evans, director George Lucas, singer Carly Simon, singer Rod Stewart, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, and financier Donald Trump.^[26]

On 29 October 2008, during a refit in dry dock in Hamburg, Germany, a worker attempted to murder his former lover after she ended the relationship by strangling her in his cabin. The suspect has been arrested, however he has since been released. Officers on the scene stated that "he was drunk and didn't like what he heard".^[27]

With the retirement of Queen Elizabeth 2 (on 27 November 2008 ^[28]), Queen Mary 2 is the only operational ocean liner left in active passenger service. Queen Mary 2 rendezvoused with Queen Elizabeth 2 in Dubai on Saturday 21st March, 2009 while both ships were berthed at Mina Rashid.^[29]

[edit] Design

[edit] Exterior

The Queen Mary 2's principal architect was Carnival's house designer, Stephen Payne, a self-confessed ocean liner aficionado. While the primary reference point for the vessel's design was undoubtedly that of her running mate Queen Elizabeth 2, her exterior lines also show hints of other vessels. She resembles her predecessor Queen Mary in the curved forward bridge screen, the tower-like ends of which rise to the bridge wings. The forward whaleback is reminiscent of many CGT liners, particularly the Normandie and the France.

The Queen Mary 2 has 14,164 square metres (3.5 acres) of exterior deck space, with similar wind screens to shield passengers from gusts as the ship travels at high speeds. Four of the ship's five swimming pools are outdoors; one of these is only one inch deep for the use of small children. One of the pools is indoors on Deck 12, though covered with a retractable magrodome. The indoor pool is on Deck 7, in the Canyon Ranch Spa Club.

In common with liners such as SS Rotterdam there is a continuous wrap-around promenade deck on Deck 7. The promenade passes behind the bridge screen and allows passengers to completely circumnavigate the deck while protected from the strong winds generated by the ship at full speed. One circuit of the promenade is a distance of 620 metres (2034 ft). The two slender after-stacks are a further direct reference to the Rotterdam. The flanking promenades are created by the need to step the superstructure in, to allow for space for lifeboats. By SOLAS standards the lifeboats should have been lower on the ship's hull (15 m above waterline), but for the sake of the Queen Mary 2's appearance as well as to avoid the danger of large North Atlantic waves damaging the boats in a storm, Payne convinced SOLAS officials to exempt the Queen Mary 2 from this requirement, and the boats are 25 m above the waterline.

One aspect of the Queen Mary 2 that has been criticised is the contour of her stern. Payne's intent was to make the ship's stern profile similar to that of the Queen Elizabeth 2, with a spoon shape, but the mounting of the propeller pods required a flat transom. The compromise was a Constanzi stern – a combination of a more traditional cruiser stern with a contemporary box-like transom stern. Payne had specifically said that he would not resort to adding any non-functional elements to the Queen Mary 2's design purely to make her appear more "liner-like". It can indeed be argued that the stern satisfies a mixture of functional and aesthetic requirements: A Constanzi stern provides the transom required for azimuthal pod propulsors, yet provides better seaholding characteristics in a following swell than a standard transom stern. The stern design, too, has been seen by some as a homage to earlier (especially Italian-built) liners such as the SS Eugenio C. and the SS Oceanic.

The vessel as completed does exhibit one other subtle element of visual fakery: the three thick black lines that wrap around either edge of her bridge screen. The purpose of these seem to be to recall the appearance of the crossovers of the forward decks on the original Queen Mary or on the Titanic.

In common with many modern ships, both passenger and cargo, Queen Mary 2 has a bulbous bow to reduce drag and thereby increase speed, range, and fuel efficiency.

The somewhat squat appearance of the funnel reflects a fairly late alteration to the vessel's design. Originally the funnel's proportions would approximately have matched those of the funnel fitted to the Queen Elizabeth 2 after that vessel's re-engining. However, the original design would not allow the Queen Mary 2 to fit under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City. (Even as eventually built, the Queen Mary 2's shortened smokestack has only 13 feet (4.0 m) of clearance under that bridge at high tide.^[30]) This makes the Queen Mary 2 the second major British liner to have her design adapted in order to fit under a bridge at her primary foreign port of call: the top section of the radar mast on the SS Canberra could cantilever astern in order to fit under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

As the Queen Mary 2 is too large to dock in most ports, passengers are ferried to and from the ship in specially-built tenders. While at sea, these are stored in davits alongside the lifeboats. To transport passengers to shore, the tenders will pull up to one of four loading stations, named Kensington, Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Belgravia, which each have a large hull door that hydraulically opens outwards to form a boarding platform, complete with railings and decking.

Another design decision was not to constrain the size of the Queen Mary 2 in order to permit her to pass through the Panama Canal. Noticing that the Queen Elizabeth 2 only transited the Canal once a year, Cunard decided to pass up the convenience of the occasional Canal passage in favour of a larger passenger capacity. As a result, however, the Queen Mary 2 must circumnavigate South America whenever she wants to go west from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

[edit] Interior

Contrary to the traditional practice on ocean liners, the main public rooms of the Queen Mary 2 are on the lowest public decks of the ship, with the passenger cabins stacked above. This allowed for larger rooms to be contained within the stronger hull, as well as for more passenger cabins to have private balconies. Payne attempted to create a central axis to the two main public room decks (similar in fashion to the Normandie), but a full vista is broken by various public rooms that span the width of the ship. The dining rooms were placed further aft, though not directly at the stern, as done on some cruise ships like Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas, where vibration from the propellers at full speed would cause discomfort to dining passengers, as well as where fore-aft pitching of the ship is most noticeable.

Deck 2, the lowest passenger deck, contains the Illuminations theatre, cinema and planetarium; Royal Court Theatre; Grand Lobby; Empire Casino; Golden Lion Pub; and the lower level of the Britannia Restaurant. Deck 3 holds the upper levels of Illuminations, the Royal Court theatre and the Britannia Restaurant, as well as a small shopping arcade, Veuve Cliquot champagne bar, the Chart Room, Sir Samuel's wine bar, the Queen's Room, and the G32 Nightclub. The other main public deck is Deck 7, on which are the Canyon Ranch Spa, Winter Garden, King's Court, the Queen's Grill Lounge, and the Queen's Grill and Princess Grill restaurants for higher-fare passengers. The public rooms on Deck 8 include the à la carte Todd English Restaurant, the largest library at sea (the record was previously held by Queen Elizabeth 2), a book shop and the upper part of the Canyon Ranch Spa. Also on Deck 8 is a large outdoor pool and terrace at the stern.

The King's Court area on the ship is open 24 hours a day, serving as a buffet restaurant for breakfast and lunch. The overall space is divided into quarters, with each section decorated according to the theme of the four separate alternate dining venues that are "created" each evening through lighting, tableware, and menus: Lotus, which specialises in Asian cuisine; the Carvery, a British-style grille; La Piazza, with Italian food; and the Chef's Galley, which offers an interactive experience to food preparation.^[31][32] From 23:00 onwards the one section remains open as a buffet until 05:00; a continental breakfast service then starts at 05:00, other sections open at various times so by 08:30 all section are open for breakfast.^[33]

It has been argued that the separation of passengers into different restaurants based on the price of the cabin they booked (the Britannia as "standard" for regular cabins, the Princess Grill as "middle" for those in junior suites, and the Queen's Grill as "superior" for deluxe suite occupants) makes the Queen Mary 2 a ship divided into three classes, despite the fact that all other public rooms are used by all passengers equally.^[34] Though this situation is similar on the Queen Elizabeth 2, it is further enhanced on the Queen Mary 2 by the fact that "Grill Passengers" (those dining in the Princess Grill or Queen's Grill) also have a private outdoor deck with its own whirlpool on Deck 11.

As the Queen Mary 2 was the first single-class ocean liner built since the immigrant ships of the early part of the 20th century (unlike her fleet-mate the Queen Elizabeth 2, which was originally built for three classes, and in her early years operated partly as a single-class cruise ship and partly as a "classed" liner), the Queen Mary 2 could afford to have a clearer arrangement of staircases and passages that does not have to allow for doors and partitions being closed off when the ship is in a "classed" transatlantic mode.

However, due to the arrangement of the public rooms, there are some "kinks" in the design. For instance, as the Britannia Restaurant takes up the full width of the ship on two decks, a 'tween deck, called Deck 3L, was devised to allow passengers to walk from the Grand Lobby to the Queen's Room without traversing the dining room mid-meal. The deck consists of two corridors that run beneath the upper balcony of the Britannia on Deck 3, and above the main dining area on Deck 2. This is why the balcony of the Britannia has tiers that step up towards the hull. This arrangement is illustrated on the hull where there is a stack of three rows of windows in the area where the main restaurant sits - the two upper- and lower-most rows illuminate the dining room, while the centre row serves Deck 3L. There is a similar arrangement through the Royal Court Theatre. As well, the passages that run on either side of Illuminations on Deck 3 ramp upwards to compensate for the change in deck elevation between the entrance to Illuminations and an elevator bank forward of the room.^[7]

More than 5000 specially-commissioned works of art are visible in the Queen Mary 2's public rooms, corridors, staterooms and lobbies, having been created by 128 artists from 16 different countries.^[35] Two very notable pieces are Barbara Broekman's two-storey-high tapestry in the Britannia Restaurant - an abstract depiction of an ocean liner (possibly the original Queen Mary), bridge, and New York skyline - and John McKenna's sheet bronze relief mural in the Grand Lobby, inspired by the Art Deco mural in the main dining room of the original Queen Mary.^[36]

[edit] The Boston Cup

Carried aboard QM2 is the Boston Cup. Sometimes referred to as The Britannia Cup, this artefact was created for Sir Samuel Cunard in Boston to commemorate the arrival of his first vessel Britannia^[37]. Cunard had selected Boston as the American port for his Atlantic service which resulted in a strong connection between Boston and the Cunard Line.

It is believed that the cup was presented to Sir Samuel Cunard sometime in 1840 however for much of its life it was missing. It was discovered in an antique shop in 1967 and returned to Cunard where it was placed aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2. In 2004, when QM2 became flagship, the Boston Cup was placed aboard QM2 as a symbol of her being Cunard's flagship.^[38] It now forms part of the Maritime Quest aboard.

[edit] General hotel statistics

• Queen Mary 2 contains 3,001 telephones
• Passengers annually consume:

• 230,000 bottles of wine, plus 1.5 million other drinks
• 24,950 kilograms (55,000 pounds) of coffee
• 7,000 boxes of strawberries
• 17,240 kilograms (38,000 pounds) of smoked salmon
• 90,000 kilograms (198,000 pounds) of pineapples
• Enough beef to supply the city of Southampton for one year^[39]

[edit] Technical

[edit] Power plant and propulsion system

The Queen Mary 2's power plant comprises both four 16-cylinder Wärtsilä 16V46CR EnviroEngine marine diesel engines generating a combined 67,200 kW (90,100 hp) at 514 rpm, as well as two General Electric LM2500+ gas turbines which together provide a further 50,000 kW (67,000 hp). Such a combined arrangement, known as CODAG (Combined Diesel And Gas turbine), provides for economical cruising at low speed combined with an ability to sustain much higher speeds when required, and has been common in naval vessels for some time. While Queen Mary 2 is the first passenger ship to feature CODAG propulsion, she is not the first large passenger vessel to be powered by gas turbines as is sometimes mistakenly reported. That honour falls to the Finnish ferry Finnjet of 1977.

Thrust is provided by four Rolls-Royce Mermaid podded propulsion units, each featuring one forward-facing low-vibration Kamewa propeller with separately bolted blades. (Queen Mary 2 carries 8 spare blades on the foredeck, immediately forward of the bridge screen.) The forward pair are fixed, but the aft pair can rotate through 360°, removing the need for a rudder. The Queen Mary 2 is the first quadruple screw passenger ship completed since the SS France in 1961.

As in most modern cruise ships, Queen Mary 2's propulsion machinery is electrically decoupled from her propeller shafts and her propulsion arrangement can therefore be more accurately described as "CODAG-electric" (by analogy with turbo-electric and diesel-electric). The diesel engines and gas turbines drive electrical generators, which provide the power to drive four 21,500 kW (28,800 hp) Alstom electrical motors located inside the podded propulsors (and thus entirely outside the vessel's hull).

In a further break with tradition, Queen Mary 2's gas turbines are not housed along with her diesels in the engine room deep in her hull, but instead reside in a thoroughly soundproofed enclosure directly underneath the funnel. This arrangement allowed the vessel's designers to supply the oxygen-hungry turbines with air intakes without having to run air ducts the entire height of the ship, which would have wasted valuable interior space.

[edit] Air conditioning

The air conditioning for the Queen Mary 2 was provided by the Voltas company of India.[2]

[edit] Water supply

Freshwater aboard the Queen Mary 2 is supplied primarily by three seawater desalination plants. The plants, each with a capacity of 630 cubic meters per day, use multiple effect plate (MEP) distillation technology. The plants’ energy is supplied primarily by steam and cooling water from the ship’s gas turbines and diesel engines, or - if needed - by steam from the ship’s two oil-fired boilers. The traditional multiple-effect distillation technology has been improved for the ship’s plant, so that scaling of plates is reduced, vastly reducing the need to maintain the plant by eliminating the need to scrub the plates with acid. The desalinated water has a very low salt content of less than 5 parts per million. Average total water production is 1,100 cubic meters per day with a capacity of 1,890 cubic meters, so that there is ample spare capacity. The ship could easily be supplied by only two of the three plants. ^[40] Potable water tanks have a capacity of 3,830 cubic meters, enough for more than 3 days of supply.^[41] If the ship runs at slow speed, the engines do not produce enough steam to run the desalination plants. In that case, or if water is cheaper to buy on shore in a particular port than to desalinate, water is taken aboard in a port. The seawater intakes are located in the hull of the ship. Concentrated salt solution (brine) is being discharged to the sea closer to the ship’s stern together with cooling water from the engines.

[edit] Environmental performance

See also:Cruise ship pollution

The carbon footprint of ocean liners such as the Queen Mary 2 is greater than that of air travel, as detailed below. Concerning waste discharges to the sea, the Queen Mary 2 was designed with ambitious environmental targets in mind, far exceeding international standards. Initial targets included the reuse of treated wastewater for non-potable uses and zero discharge of solid waste into the sea. For economic and other reasons, as well as in order to reduce energy consumption from incineration, these measures were not implemented. Still, the Queen Mary 2’s environmental performance in terms of sea discharges exceeds international standards, as detailed further below. It also exceeds the performance of many older ships.

[edit] Greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution

Daily energy consumption of the Queen Mary 2 at a speed of 29 knots is about 261 tons of diesel and 237 tons of marine gas oil.^[41] Using a ratio of 3.1 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning 1 ton of fuel, this corresponds to emissions of 0.74 kg of CO2 per passenger-mile with 2,600 passengers on board. However, Climate Care calculates that Queen Mary 2 emits only 0.43kg of CO2 per passenger mile. The lower figure may be based on a lower speed, more passengers or a lower carbon-to-fuel ratio. Still according to Climate Care, CO2 emissions from a long-haul flight are 0.257kg, including an allowance for the further damage of emissions being produced in the upper atmosphere. ^[42] Based on these different figures, the greenhouse gas emissions of the Queen Mary 2 are between 66% and three times higher than those of air travel. These figures do not take into account emissions from air- or land-based travel to the port of departure and from the port of destination. Cunard, the ship's owner, does not release figures on its ships’ carbon footprint, arguing that any comparison with air travel is flawed since the ship includes a full-fledged hotel and thus is more than a mere means of transport.^[41]

In areas where air pollution from sulfur dioxides which causes acid rain is a concern, the ship switches to low-sulfur fuel in order to minimize air pollution.^[41]

[edit] Wastewater disposal

Grey water (from showers, sinks, laundry facilities etc.) and black water (from low-flush toilets, urinals and wastewater from the medical center) is collected through separate piping systems, the former functioning by gravity and the latter being a vacuum system. They lead to two identical wastewater treatment plants that use membrane bioreactor technology, followed by ultrafiltration and disinfection with ultra-violet radiation.^[41] The plants produce pure water of drinking water quality. Because most people are reluctant to drink recycled water, as on any other ship, the treated water is not used for potable uses. Initially it was envisaged to reuse treated grey water from one of the plants for scrubbing decks, washing windows or other technical uses, which was one of the reasons for installing a dual piping system. ^[40] However, the reuse was never implemented. Instead the entire effluent from the treatment plants is stored in a treated “grey water” tank, or in ballast tanks if needed, and discharged to the open sea more than 12 nautical miles from shore. Ultrafiltration and disinfection are not required or necessary for these discharges according to international environmental standards.

As on other ships, bilge water, the oily water that collects at the bottom of a ship, is treated separately through a centrifuge that separates oily sludge and residual water. Residual water with an oil content of less than 15 parts per million is discharged to the sea.

[edit] Solid waste disposal

Solid waste is separated by kitchen staff or stewards who empty waste bins in passenger rooms. It is then processed depending on the type of waste. Organic kitchen waste is transported through a piping system to a facility where it is being shredded, de-watered in vacuum chambers, compressed and then discharged into the open sea when the ship is more than 12 nautical miles from shore. Alternatively, if the ship is in coastal areas or in other closed seas, organic waste can also be incinerated. However, this requires substantial energy because of the high fluid content of organic waste. Light plastic (wrapping, water bottles) and paper is shredded and burnt in the ship’s incinerators. Hard plastic that does not burn easily, cardboard and glass are being shredded and/or compacted and then stored for ultimate disposal or recycling on land by licensed contractors.^[41] Contractors sometimes collect the waste for free and sometimes need to be paid, depending on the port of call. Licensed contractors are not available in all ports, thus sometimes requiring storage for long periods.

It had initially been envisaged to also incinerate dried residual sludge from the wastewater treatment plants and machine oil. ^[40] Sludge from the treatment plant is actually discharged into the open sea. Machine oil as well as oily sludge residual from bilge water treatment is stored and disposed by licensed contractors on shore. Hazardous waste, such as fluorescent light tubes or waste paint, is disposed on land through licensed contractors. About 70% of the waste landed in Queen Mary 2’s home port of Southampton is being recycled.^[41] Ashes from the incinerators are also stored and disposed on land.

[edit] Environmental monitoring and compliance

Discharges of sensitive substances, in particular the residual oil content of treated bilge water and air emissions, are monitored regularly in order to ensure compliance with environmental standards. According to Cunard, the ship exceeds the requirements of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships (MARPOL) of the International Maritime Organization. For example, it discharges waste into the sea only in areas more than 12 nautical miles from any coast, although MARPOL allows discharge of treated organic waste and treated bilge water closer to the shore.^[41]

[edit] Media appearances

Due to a large advertising campaign by Cunard Line leading up to the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary 2, the ship has already appeared often in international media coverage:

• The 2006 Wolfgang Petersen film Poseidon was partially filmed on the Queen Mary 2; the original film, The Poseidon Adventure, was filmed on the Queen Mary. Though not actual interiors, some of the Queen Mary 2's rooms served as inspiration for sets on Poseidon.
• The ship also appeared in the second season of The Apprentice; the reward for the men's team of Mosaic was a dinner onboard.
• In the 2005 anime Blood+, the flagship of the Red Shield organization is modelled on the Queen Mary 2. Later in the series, the ship was sunk during an attack by Diva and Karl.
• In Frederick Forsyth's 2006 book The Afghan, the ship plays host to a (fictional) G8 summit.
• In October 2006 the National Broadcasting Company produced and aired a program entitled Onboard Queen Mary 2 — A Transatlantic Adventure, documenting a typical six day trans-Atlantic crossing of the Queen Mary 2.
• The Queen Mary 2 appears as the fictional ship SS Princess Isabella in the film 10.5 Apocalypse, later on in the film the ship meets it disastrous end when an undersea earthquake erupts a tsunami and capsizes the ship.^[43]
• In Patrick Robinson's Hunter Killer the Queen Mary 2 is rammed by the Shades of Arabia, a 107-foot (33 m) luxury yacht belonging to a Saudi playboy Crown Prince.
• In July 2007 the National Geographic Channel broadcast the documentary Megastructures about the Queen Mary 2.
• In the Xbox 360 game Ace Combat 6 - Fires of Liberation, the Queen Mary 2 features in the city of Gracemeria, on level 14, in the docks beside the partially destroyed suspension bridge.
• In the manga series Our Kingdom, the main characters board a ship that is almost an exact copy of the Queen Mary 2

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: RMS Queen Mary 2

• Cunard Queen Mary 2 Official website
• Cunard Line's U.S Website
• Cunard Line's U.K Website
• Queen Mary 2 Bridge Cam
• Queen Mary 2 Video Clips
• Passengers threaten mutiny on crippled "Queen Mary 2" (January 23, 2006)
• Unofficial Queen Mary 2 Website
• 1/1200th Replica
• 1/400th Replica
• 360 Panoramas of Queen Mary 2 at sea and entering New York

Records
Preceded by Navigator of the Seas	World's largest passenger ship 2004 – 2006	Succeeded by Freedom of the Seas

v • d • e Cunard ships Current Fleet RMS Queen Mary 2 (2004)  · MS Queen Victoria (2007) Planned MS Queen Elizabeth (2010) Former Ships RMS Britannia (1840)  · SS Abyssinia (1870)  · SS Servia (1881)  · RMS Etruria (1884)  · RMS Umbria (1884)  · RMS Campania (1892)  · RMS Lucania (1893)  · SS Ivernia (1899)  · RMS Carpathia (1903)  · RMS Carmania (1905)  · RMS Caronia (1905)  · RMS Lusitania (1907)  · RMS Mauretania (1907)  · RMS Franconia (1910)  · RMS Ascania (1911)  · RMS Albania (1911)  · RMS Ausonia (1911)  · RMS Laconia (1912)  · RMS Alaunia (1913) (1913)  · RMS Aquitania (1913)  · SS Orduna (1914)  ·  · SS Empire Barracuda (1918)  · RMS Albania (1920)  · RMS Antonia (1921)  · RMS Ausonia (1921)  · RMS Scythia (1921)  · RMS Andania (1922)  · RMS Berengaria (1922)  · RMS Laconia (1922)  · RMS Lancastria (1922)  · RMS Majestic (1922)  · RMS Ascania (1923)  · RMS Aurania (1924)  · RMS Alaunia (1925)  · RMS Carinthia (1925)  · SS Laurentic (1927)  · RMS Britannic (1929)  · RMS Georgic (1934)  · RMS Olympic (1934)  · RMS Queen Mary (1936)  · RMS Mauretania (1939)  · MV Empire Audacity (1939)  · RMS Queen Elizabeth (1940)  · SS Empire Battleaxe (1943)  · SS Valacia (1943)  · RMS Caronia (1949)  · RMS Saxonia (1954)  · RMS Ivernia (1955)  · RMS Carinthia (1956)  · RMS Sylvania (1957)  · RMS Alaunia (1960)  · RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (1967)  · MS Cunard Adventurer (1971)  · MS Cunard Ambassador (1972)  · MS Cunard Countess (1975)  · MS Cunard Princess (1976)  · MS Sagafjord (1983)  · MS Caronia (1983)  · MS Royal Viking Sun (1994)