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| Queen Mary II, world's largest cruise ship, tests waters for first time
SAINT-NAZAIRE, France, Sept 25 (AFP) - The Queen Mary II, the biggest and most luxurious passenger ship ever built, left port for the first time Thursday for a series of tests ahead of its maiden transatlantic voyage in January. Thousands of spectators applauded as the liner, the first Cunard ship assembled outside of Britain, left the western French port of Saint-Nazaire under sunny skies for a weekend of several off-shore trial runs. Serious business, investment and technology intelligence for a serious advantage - BizVantage! The 150,000-tonne vessel -- which is 345 meters (1,150 feet) long, 41 meters wide and stands as high as a 23-story building -- cut a majestic blue and white silhouette, save for a few unpainted steel panels and its red chimney. French shipbuilder Chantiers de l'Atlantique -- a subsidiary of troubled engineering giant Alstom, which was saved from near-bankruptcy this week by a state-backed 3.2-billion-euro (3.7-billion-dollar) rescue plan -- is counting on the Queen Mary II to stand as a shining example of its technical expertise. The liner will be able to accommodate some 2,600 passengers and 1,250 crew members, and the power it generates would be enough to provide electricity for a city of about 300,000 residents. The ship will include a 1,000-seat theater, a planetarium, a spa, a ballroom, five swimming pools, 2,000 bathrooms, 3,000 telephones, 4,500 steps and hundreds of works of art. Cunard, owned by US cruise group Carnival, is paying 800 million dollars for the new crown jewel of its fleet. About 450 engineers and technicians will be aboard the Queen Mary II during the test runs between the off-shore islands of Ile d'Yeu and Belle-Ile, which were set to continue through Sunday, to ensure that the ship is up to code. Denis Martineau, who is in charge of the inspection process, said clear weather and calm seas late Thursday should allow his team of experts to run the ship at an impressive 30 knots, or nearly 56 kilometers (35 miles) an hour. Work on board will resume Monday, including the fitting out of the lavish cabins. The cruise liner -- expected to be in use for some 40 years -- is scheduled to be delivered to Cunard in December, and then to make its first trip from Southampton, southern England, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 12, 2004. Aesthetically, the ship will resemble its famed predecessors, the Queen Mary and the two Queen Elizabeth liners, with a 74-meter-high chimney stack and a tapered bow well-suited for Atlantic navigation. However, it will only cross the ocean about 20 times a year, with the rest of its schedule focused on luxury cruises in other parts of the world. Cunard's success depends on the latter -- a market which attracts some 10 million clients a year, 80 percent of whom are American, and which has developed despite travel fears in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. For those looking to experience the maiden voyage of the "QM2", prices range from 3,100 euros for an interior cabin without a view, to 41,200 euros for a 209-square-meter duplex. cs/sst/gk France-Britain-ship-leisure
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