Queen Mary 2 to go on maiden voyage as planned

French police experts work 16 November 2003 on the gangway 
that collapsed 15 November killing 16 people and injuring 30 
others on the site of the Queen Mary II shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, 
France. AFP PHOTO PATRICK KOVARIK

Monday, November 17, 2003

LONDON, Nov 16 (AFP) - Luxury cruise liner the Queen Mary 2 is likely to sail on its first cruise to the Caribbean as planned early next year despite the death of 16 people when a walkway to the ship collapsed, cruise firm Cunard said Sunday.

Those who died were visiting the newly built ship, the largest passenger liner in the world, as it was moored in dry dock at the Atlantic port of Saint Nazaire in western France.

A British spokesman for Cunard, for whom the ship has been built, said the company did not take ownership of the vessel until December 22, adding that it would have to contact the shipyard before it could confirm any plans.

However a company spokeswoman in Miami told Britain's Press Association news agency that the maiden voyage was still expected to go ahead.

"To the best of our knowledge, the ship will sail January 12, as scheduled," said Julie Davis.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth was expected to officially name the 2,620-passenger vessel before it took the sold-out voyage from Southampton, southern England, to Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

Saturday's accident happened when a 30-foot gangway from the quayside, erected the day before, broke during a visit by a party of family members of shipyard construction workers.

Around 40 people fell around 60 feet into the dry dock.

"I heard a cracking sound right at the end of the gangway. It all happened in seconds. People fell onto the cement. I heard someone shouting, "Get out! Get out!" but I did not know what was happening," said one survivor who did not wish to be identified.

The dead and injured where friends and relatives of employees of the ship's manufacturer Alstom who were being shown round on an open day ahead of its departure from Saint-Nazaire next month. Six of the injured were in critical condition.

The prosecutor in Saint Nazaire opened a judicial investigation into "involuntary homicide and injuries" in line with standard practice in the case of lethal accidents. It was to look at whether the company that made and installed the gangway bears criminal liability.

"They shouldn't have allowed family visits to use the gangway. When the workers use it they don't go over in nearly such large numbers," an unnamed worker was quoted as saying in Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

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