On May 27, at 8:00 PM, the Queen Mary 2 docked at Blohm+Voss at dry dock ELBE 17, well-known to the ocean liner. There, the flagship of the long-established British shipping company Cunard Line will undergo the largest refit program since being brought into service. It is the sixth time that the Queen Mary 2 docks at Blohm+Voss. A total of 50 new cabins are fitted or remodeled in line with this year’s master refit, 35 of them in the front section of deck 13.
In addition, Blohm+Voss has prefabricated several steel deck sections with a total weight of approx. 200 tons that will also be installed on deck 13 by the shipyard’s specialists; furthermore, comprehensive modernizations in the hotel, entertainment and gastronomy areas of the ocean liner are part of the current construction schedule.
Fred van Beers, Chief Executive Officer at Blohm+Voss, explains, “We are proud to carry out such an extensive master refit on the Queen Mary 2. In the past years, we have managed to gain a good international reputation with orders from the cruise liner industry. In this area, we are especially known for our performance during complex remodeling and modernizations with ambitious deadlines. In 2015, we prepared 10 cruise liners for the future this way.”
The shipbuilding and mechanical engineering work comprises modifications to the bridge wing, the installation of new bulkheads for improved damage stability as well as modifications to the tanks. Furthermore, the ocean liner with a length of 345 m and a tonnage of 148,528 GT will also receive an upgrade in terms of environmental protection.
For this, four new scrubbers as well as the corresponding exhaust gas filters will be installed. Additionally, the maintenance of the four pod drives, the four stabilizing systems as well as the removal and maintenance of the three bow thrusters are on the task list. A new, environmentally friendly coat of paint in the underwater area as well as for the superstructure and the renewal of the class complete the stay at the shipyard.
On June 17, after only 21 full working days at Blohm+Voss, the Queen Mary 2 will leave dry dock ELBE 17 again at approx. 2:30 PM and will be hauled to the Steinwerder cruise terminal. Only four days later, passengers will board the ship for a 10-day transatlantic cruise, leaving from Hamburg and arriving in New York via Southampton.
