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.

In fact, just today Cunard Lines has announced that it has appointed Captain Inger Klein Olsen as its first female captain in the companies history.  Captain Olsen assumed command of Cunard Line’s Queen Victoria on December 1st.

Captain Olsen’s first task at the helm of Queen Victoria was to take the ship, without passengers, to drydock in Hamburg for its planned refit. Next Wednesday, 15 December, she will be on the bridge as the ship sets sail with a full complement of guests.

Forty-three-year-old Captain Olsen was raised in the Faroe Islands, which accounts for her maritime abilities, and she joined Cunard in 1997 as First Officer on board Caronia. In 2001 she transferred to the Seabourn fleet, which at that time was part of Cunard. She sailed on Seabourn Sun and Seabourn Spirit before being promoted to the rank of Staff Captain on Seabourn Pride in 2003. Read full article

Olsen will helm Queen Victoria during the ship’s debut Americas voyage commencing on January 13.

For more information about women in maritime, read the following forum posts:

• Honesty On Jobs for the OTHER Gender
• Women Seafarers
• I am a women

Click here to view the embedded video.

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.

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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.

NewYorkology tells us of the first / last ever meeting of its three grand ships;

Cunard’s one-time-only royal rendezvous of its three queens — the QE2, QM2 and recently christened Queen Victoria — will be celebrated at 7 p.m. on January 13 with a harbor fireworks show as the three grand cruise liners meet near the Statue of Liberty.

The QE2 and Queen Victoria will arrive in tandem (likely pre-sunrise) from Southampton, England. During the day, the QE2 will be docked at Manhattan’s Pier 92 and the Queen Victoria nearby at Pier 88. The Queen Mary 2 will arrive separately (also early morning,) and dock in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

All three have bridge cams (Queen Victoria, QM2 and QE2) and Cruise Critic Ben Lyons is blogging the voyage.

UPDATE:

Henny Ray Abrams/Associated Press

The New York Times has reported on the festivities. They write:

In the annals of maritime history, the Queens’ sailing was momentous. It was the first time in the 168-year history of the Cunard Line, the owner of the liners, that it had three ships named after British queens in the same port at the same time. The company arranged the ships’ schedules so that they departed from New York City ports simultaneously.

The Queens’ meeting, witnessed by thousands on shore and on board, will also be their last, company officials said.

“They are not programmed to meet in any other port,” Cunard’s president, Carol Marlow, said during an afternoon news conference at Pier 88 in Manhattan, with the docked Queen Victoria visible in background. “This is a spine-tingling time.”

The Queen Elizabeth 2, Cunard’s longest-serving ship, left Manhattan for its 26th and final around-the-world journey — a farewell tour that will usher in its retirement in November, when the liner will become a floating hotel in Dubai. The Queen Victoria, which came into service last month, embarked on its maiden world cruise. And the Queen Mary 2, the largest trans-Atlantic liner ever built, weighing about 151,400 gross tons, sailed to the Caribbean from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

Click HERE to continue reading.

The Cincinnati Enquirer as us: “As new cruise ships continue to get larger, it begs the question: Is bigger better?”

I admittedly don’t know much about cruise ship operations but quoting a friend… “The only problem with working on cruise ships…. cargo that complains!” The larger the ship the more cargo you have to load.

They tell us a little about these mega-ships including the Freedom of the Seas, pictured above;

Boasting the two largest ships afloat, Royal Caribbean is a leader of mega-ships. Last year, the cruise line rolled out Freedom of the Seas, followed this May by its sister Liberty of the Seas. At 160,000 tons and 1,112 feet long, each ship houses 1,815 staterooms on 15 passenger decks and a crew of 1,360.

Double occupancy pushes capacity to 3,630 cruisers, but the ships are designed to spread people out. Miniature golf, karaoke, court sports, swimming, ice skating, spa services and FlowRider – the industry’s first surf simulator – are just a sampling of the onboard activities.

Norwegian Cruise Line features another industry first: a full-size, four-lane bowling alley onboard the new Pearl and the soon-to-launch Gem. These 93,530-ton ships also incorporate a new style of accommodations with much larger courtyard villas and garden villas, a dozen restaurants, 11 bars and lounges and rock climbing wall.

So what’s on the horizon for these mega ships?

• Cunard rolls out the regal Queen Victoria this December with an elegant Todd English Restaurant.
• MSC’s Poesia is poised for March, carrying 3,013 guests on 13 passenger decks. Amenities include a tennis court, teen club, cigar room, disco and miniature golf.
• Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas makes waves in England in May with a spa and well-being center with thermal caves.
• Next summer, Holland America debuts the 2,104-passenger Eurodam, the largest ever for the line. Innovations include a topside pan-Asian restaurant and a lounge that overlooks the ocean and pool.
• Carnival’s Splendor makes its inaugural cruise next July. The 113,000-ton ship will have a sliding Sky Dome, a 21,000-square-foot health and fitness center and 68 special spa staterooms.
• The 113,000-ton, 3,080-passenger Ruby Princess sparkles in November 2008 with a dramatic piazza-style atrium and performing street entertainers, in addition to its signature Movies Under the Stars.
• The 122,000-ton Celebrity Solstice takes its maiden voyage in December 2008.
• In fall of 2009, Royal Caribbean’s “Project Genesis” ship will set a record as the largest cruise ship on the sea. This whopping 220,000-ton, next-generation ship will carry 5,400 passengers.

If your interested in these new ships then head over to Holland America’s Eurodam Blog for a behind the scenes look at the building of a Mega-Ship.

Read the full Cincinnati Enquirer article HERE.

The BBC tells us:

Cunard Lines is to build a 92,000 tonne liner which will be called the Queen Elizabeth.
The ship, which will be based at Southampton, will carry 2,092 passengers and more than 1,000 crew.

Shipping firm Cunard also operates the QE2 liner, which will leave service next year, making this newer vessel the largest of a three-ship fleet.

The decision to build the vessel was prompted by the demand for cruises on Cunard’s new ship Queen Victoria. Read More…

Correction – The BBC has updated the details of the story. Many thanks to Phillip for pointing this out in the comments. Here is the new version of their article:

A shipping company is to build a 92,000 tonne liner which will be called the Queen Elizabeth not the QE3.

The ship, which will be based at Southampton, will carry 2,092 passengers and more than 1,000 crew.

Shipping firm Cunard also operates the QE2 liner, which will leave service next year to become a floating hotel in Dubai from 2009.

The decision to build the vessel was prompted by the demand for cruises on Cunard’s new ship Queen Victoria.