Wednesday, October 10

Italy's Fincantieri building the New "Queens" of the Cunard 

The ANNOTICO Report

 

The new Queen Elizabeth, like the soon to be delivered Queen Victoria, will be built by Fincantieri at Monfalcone, in Italy.           Fincantieri has built 41 cruise ships since 1990 and the Queen Elizabeth is the 16th on the order books.

Monfalcone is on the northernmost tip of the Adriatic Sea, 25 miles north of Treiste, and 100 miles northeast of Venice.

It is a pleasant surprise to see that Italy with it's European Labor Rates, is able to compete with Asian countries like Korea.                                 In the article below, Clyde, Scotland is bemoaning the loss, more nostalgically,than economically, because it's facilities can not accommodate these much larger liners.

Sad Blow to Clyde Pride as Italians win Latest Queen

 

The Herald - Glasgow,Scotland,UK
Stewart Paterson

October 11 2007

 

 

As if confirmation were needed, another painful reminder came yesterday that Scotland's heyday as a world leader in building passenger liners is just a fading memory.

Just weeks after the QE2 said farewell to the Clyde, Cunard said it had signed a deal with Italian state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri to build their latest cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth, which will replace the QE2 on the high seas.

The latest luxury liner, a 92,000 tonne, 2092-passenger vessel will be the second-biggest ever built for Cunard.

While the first Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary and the QE2 were famously Clyde-built, floating monuments to the expertise and craftsmanship of the 20th-century Scottish yards, the new Queen Elizabeth, like the soon to be delivered Queen Victoria, will be built at Monfalcone, in Italy.

Fincantieri said it was delighted to land the £350m contract and described building liners as a growing market.

The company has built 41 cruise ships since 1990 and the Queen Elizabeth is the 16th on the order books.

Giuseppe Bono, Fincantieri chief executive officer, said: "This agreement confirms our global leadership in a sector with strong growth prospects.

"It is a particularly special moment for Fincantieri to have secured a second order from Cunard at a time when we are nearing the completion of Queen Victoria."

While the Italian firm is using its latest prestigious order to boast of its position as leading shipbuilders on a global scale, passenger shipbuilding on the Clyde is now only a memory, cause for nostalgia, and celebrations of past glories.

John Robertson, Glasgow North West MP, vice-chairman of the all-party shipbuilding group, is realistic about where the Clyde ranks in the new world order.

He said: "Our days of building ships like the QE2 are long gone. The big yards are not there with the capacity any more and we have lost a lot of the skills needed to build them.

"I am surprised Italy can afford to do it and compete with places like Korea, who always undercut us. But it depends how it is being built, some may be outsourced to other places where costs are cheaper.

"If it wasn't for MoD orders there would be no shipbuilding on the Clyde and we have enough orders. We would not be capable of taking on something like a new QE2."

Jim Bullock, fellow of the Institute of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, and former John Brown employee, said shipbuilding today is a world of a difference compared to the Clyde's glory years.

He said: "John Brown's was only able to build the biggest ships back then because it had the River Cart at the other side of the slipway to launch them.

"These new liners are a different class again, they are far bigger than even the QE2. That was built for speed.

"These new ships are built for size and capacity and are much slower. They are too big to be built on the Clyde even if they wanted to. They are entirely different from what went before. The QE2 could be compared to a greyhound, while the present-day liners can be compared to a St Bernard."

Cunard said the new order was placed following high demand and booking for the Queen Victoria, due to be delivered next month.

The deal means the company will return to operating three luxury liners, two years after the QE2 is finally taken out of commission next year.

 

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