The latest
Cunard Line ship,
Queen Victoria, has taken a step closer to entering service this week by being 'floated out'.
With the ship situated in a dry dock in the Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard near Venice, the area was flooded as the liner made its first forays into water. It will undergo its final construction stages at sea before officially entering service in December.
"Cunard came into being at the very beginning of the Victorian era - Queen Victoria had been on the throne for only three years when Samuel Cunard's first ship set sail," said Cunard's Managing Director, Carol Marlow.
"Today the company is probably the most famous name in shipping and the birth of this great liner confirms for all to see the continuing renaissance of the great name of Cunard. The Cunard lion roars again!"
Two coins were welded beneath the mast of the
Cunard Line ship - a euro to signify the fact that it was built in Italy and a gold Queen Victoria sovereign.
The sister liner to
Queen Mary 2 has cost some $522 million (?266 million) to make and weighs an impressive 90,000 tonnes.
On board, the Cunardia will be the world's first 'floating' museum on a cruise ship, filled with memorabilia and artefacts from
Cunard Line's past.
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