WALVIS BAY – The biggest transatlantic ocean liner Queen Mary II docked at the Walvis Bay harbour on Saturday morning. This was her third call to Walvis Bay.
The passenger liner with at least 2300 passengers departed the same evening. The impressive shape could be seen from various angles despite being blocked by Namport’s giant cranes. This time around coastal residents were allowed to board the vessel, while the passengers went on a sight seeing excursion through Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. The new ship was named Queen Mary II by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004 after the first Queen Mary completed her voyage in 1936. The Queen Mary II was designed by a team of British naval architects, led by Stephen Payne.
At the time of her construction in 2003 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique, the Queen Mary II was the longest, widest, and tallest passenger ship ever built, and with her gross tonnage of 148 528 also the largest. She no longer holds this distinction after the construction of Royal Caribbean International’s 154 407 GT Freedom of the Seas in April 2006.
By Eveline de Klerk