Cunard Line laid the keel for its new cruise ship, the 3000-guest Queen Anne on Thursday, September 8th.
The "keel-laying" marks the official first step in the physical building of the ship. Captain Inger Klein Thorhauge welded the ceremonial coin into the keel before a huge crane hauled the centerpiece of Cunard's Queen Anne, laying it in place beside the ship's superstructure.
MS Queen Anne cruise ship is Cunard's newest liner joining the fleet in 2024-Q1. The boat is currently under construction in Italy, at Fincantieri's shipyard in Marghera/Venice. She is scheduled for launch in 2023 and inauguration in 2024 January.
Queen Anne is also Cunard Line's 249th vessel, since the company's establishment in 1839. Although Queen Anne is not the fleet's biggest boat by GT tonnage/volume (113000 tons in comparison to the 148500-ton RMS Queen Mary 2) she is the fleet's largest by max passenger capacity (3353 guests + 1225 crew), surpassing also the sisterships Queen Victoria (2007) and Queen Elizabeth (2010).