The world’s largest ocean liner, the Queen Mary 2, arrived on Thursday at the Portuguese island of Madeira under tight security following an anonymous bomb threat.
The ship was escorted by two police boats as it arrived on schedule in the port of Funchal, capital of the island located off the coast of Morocco, and was docked away from the other ships.
On Wednesday evening, the London headquarters of the British shipping company Cunard, which owns the ship, received three anonymous phone calls in which the caller claimed there were bombs on board the ocean liner, said Luis Aguiar, a representative of the company’s affiliate in Portugal.
Two divers early on Thursday inspected the port waters before the ship’s arrival in Funchal and gave the all-clear.
Dozens of security agents could be seen guarding the area near the ship, which was declared off-limits to the public and to non-authorised vehicles.
On arrival in Funchal the black-hulled, 345m ship was greeted by about 20 other vessels and thousands of onlookers who gathered on the oceanfront, the Lusa news agency reported.
Garlands of flowers and miniature bottles of the local Madeira wine were distributed to the 2 620 passengers on board.
Luxury buses were made available to passengers wishing to visit the scenic island.
The ship was due to leave Funchal later on Thursday to continue its maiden voyage to Fort Lauderdale, in the southern American state of Florida. Its next stop is Spain’s Canary Islands.
The voyage is the first serious test of the Queen Mary 2‘s seaworthiness since it was constructed and launched last year at Saint Nazaire, on the French Atlantic coast. It was baptised by Queen Elizabeth II at a pomp-filled ceremony in Southampton, its home port, last week.
Cunard says the ship, which has 17 decks, four swimming pools and a host of luxury shops, cost $800-million dollars. — AFP
