The woman was reportedly seen climbing on a railing prior to the fall and initial reports have indicated that the she was likely intoxicated at the time of the accident.  Reuters has reported that the woman’s husband and a crewmember jumped in after her and were found swimming in the water when officers arrived.

Besides once being a former troopship during WWII, and at one time the flagship of one of the cruise industry’s most legendary companies, Cunard Line, the Queen Mary is said be teaming with paranormal activity.  Stories of hearing children crying and splashing in the pool areas are frequent.  In 1966, an engineer was crushed by a watertight door in the engine room during a fire drill, and his ghost still haunts the ship to today.  So, was this just an unfortunate accident or does the legend of the Queen Mary hauntings continue to grow?

Photo by Telstar Logistics

Unlike most domestic flags, the British-owned and British-flagged fleet of ships has grown since 2000 when the government replaced corporate tax, one that taxed ship owners according to the size and displacement of their ships. Despite this good news, the Britain’s Red Ensign may be absent from some of Britain’s most famous lines. Cunard Lines announced their intentions last week to reflag their vessels from the UK to Bermuda. The decision has nothing to do with taxes however, it’s apparently all about weddings.

One of the most persistant myths in the maritime world is that Captain’s have the legal right to marry people aboard any ship in which they command. The truth is not as clear. Some countries do give the Captain this privilege, but most do not. In some countries, Captains are strictly prevented from performing such rights. The US Navy and the British Merchant Marine, for example, explicitly forbid captains to perform weddings. The following is directly quoted from the US Code of Federal Regulations:

The commanding officer shall not perform a marriage ceremony on board his ship or aircraft. He shall not permit a marriage ceremony to be performed on board when the ship or aircraft is outside the territory of the United States, except:
(a) In accordance with local laws and the laws of the state, territory, or district in which the parties are domiciled, and
(b) In the presence of a diplomatic or consular official of the United States, who has consented to issue the certificates and make the returns required by the consular regulations.

In the US (a) of the CFR provides a loophole in which many US-flagged cruise ship operators jump through. The fact is, most states allow anyone off the street to perform a wedding as long as they register as a public notary. And this is why most cruise ship weddings in the states are performed while the vessel is docked in state waters.

Most large cruise ships are not US-flagged and weddings are performed at sea under the legal authority of their flag state, which is why Cunard Lines is considering the move. Weddings are big business for the Cruise industry and the UK’s strict laws, which state that weddings must be performed in a publicly accessibly place under English law – ruling out ceremonies at sea, are affecting Cunard’s bottom line.

While Cunard’s President, Peter Shanks, has confirmed that no decision has been made, he does see three options for the future of his ships. In an interview with the Financial Times Shanks said “One is to stay as we are and forego our share of this lucrative business; a second is to designate a wedding ship and change that ship’s registry alone; and the third is to maximise the opportunity and re-register all our ships.”

The Bermuda Red Ensign

But others don’t seem convinced that Cunard is leaving the British flag or that marriage would be the driving reason behind a move. One cruise line expert gCaptain talked to said, “Cunard has been operating under the British flag since 1840 and is the pride of the country. Any consideration to switch flags is likely driven by new European regulations which require Cunard to pay all EU citizens (like Polish or Romanian officers) British wages.”

The country most likely to get the new ships? According to the Cunard, Bermuda is the top candidate because it lies outside of the EU, allows captains to perform marriages at sea, and because Bermuda-registered ships to fly the Bermuda Red Ensign.

Maritime Journal Online writes of the QE2 entering port early Tuesday morning:

On its way into its home port at Southampton the ship ran hard aground on a sandbank at Calshot at the top of the Southampton Water approach. Most passengers were asleep at the time and no one was injured. Five tugs, one from Solent Tugs and four from Svitzer, which were all waiting for the QE2′s arrival at Southampton, came rushing to the rescue.

The QE2 was quickly freed by the tugs on the rising tide although, once started on its backwards path, it had a narrow miss with the Hill Head side of the approach. The liner made it safely into Southampton harbour just 25 minutes later than scheduled to be greeted by the Duke of Edinburgh, who led the farewell ceremonies. As divers checked the hull to see if any damage had been sustained, a Tiger Moth dropped a million poppies on the ship to mark the 90th anniversary of the World War 1 Armistice. Passengers who had paid up to £28,000 to be on QE2′s final voyage watched as a single RAF Harrier jet hovered over the vessel and dipped its nose in tribute. Two surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency fully inspected the ship and, together with the diver’s evidence, concluded it was not damaged and thus safe to undertake its final voyage.

So it’s official, the Queen Elizabeth 2 is on its final, one-way voyage to Dubai where she will be refurbished and used as a floating hotel and museum.  She is due into The Worlds Islands on November 26, where she will be greated by a flotilla of yachts, boats and other pleasure.

Although none of us here at gCaptain have been lucky enough to set foot on the famous ocean liner, it is going to be sad to see her finally laid to rest.  We have definitely put our time in following her in the news over the years and done our share of QE2, and the other Cunard Lines vessels, posts here on the blog.

Do any gCaptain readers out there have any experience on the QE2?  Let us here your stories in the comments.

After 40 year’s in service, the famed Q.E. 2 arrived at Pier 90 early this morning for its 710th and final visit to New York.  The New York Times tells us of her arrival:

With shrill blasts from its three Tyfon whistles and a 39-foot-long red paying-off pennant streaming from the mast — a foot for each year at sea — that traditionally marks the end of a ship’s commission, the Queen Elizabeth 2 (only the actual monarchs warrant Roman numerals, not the ships named for royalty) split the predawn darkness to begin a day of festivities and souvenir photos by the Statue of Liberty and berthed at Pier 90 at West 50th Street on the Hudson River, tying up around 6 a.m.

As she entered the harbor, she was trailed by the grander Queen Mary 2. The two queens paraded to the Statue of Liberty before the Queen Mary 2 split off to return to its dockage at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

The Q.E. 2, which was sold last year for eventual use as a floating hotel in Dubai, will be retired from active service later this year following her final voyage from her home in Southhampton, England to Dubai.  The Queen Elizabeth 2, along with its two sister ships Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, is operated by the British shipping company Cunard Lines, one of the oldest transatlantic shipping companies in the world.

Captain Paul Wright, a Cornishman, is a kind of latter day Henry VIII – a master and commander who moves from one queen to the next in quick succession.

He is the first person to command all three Queens in the Cunard fleet – Queen Elizabeth 2, Queen Mary 2 and their “younger sister” Queen Victoria.

His first appointment with Cunard was to Cunard Countess, since when he has served on Cunard Princess, Sagafjord and Cunard Dynasty. In 1999 Captain Wright was promoted to Captain of Cunard’s flagship Queen Elizabeth 2 where he served until construction of the largest liner ever built, Queen Mary 2. He oversaw construction of the ship in St. Nazaire prior to commission, and in 2004 was appointed Master of Queen Mary 2, alternating with the recently retired Commodore Ron Warwick.

Asked what his most memorable moments at sea have been, Captain Wright cites two: when he brought QE2 into New York for the first time after the 11 September attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, and bringing Queen Mary 2 into Hamburg on her maiden call when half a million people turned out to greet the ship.

___________________________

This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.