EDITORIAL FREE TO USE IMAGE -
A laser steel cutting machine at work at the Fincantieri ship yard in Naples, Italy where Cunard will cut the first steel of their new, as yet un-named, ship which will launch in 2022.
The start of construction on the 249th ship of the luxury cruise line, marks an exciting moment in the companys 179-year history.
Cunard's fleet includes Queen Mary 2, the world's only ocean liner in service, plus Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria.
Picture date: Friday October 11, 2019.
Photograph by Christopher Ison ©
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A new milestone.

On April 29 Cunard reached a milestone in the building of Queen Anne, its 249th ship, with the successful launch of the forward lower section of the ship, also known as the troncone, in Italy at Fincantieri's Castellammare di Stabia shipyard.

The launch ceremony is a traditional custom that celebrates a ship being transferred from land to water for the first time and as the troncone slid down the inclined slipway, a bottle of sparkling wine was swung and smashed against her hull for good luck.

Queen Anne’s troncone measures 541 feet long, 117 feet wide and weighs 12,402 tons.

This section of Queen Anne will now be sailed by tugboats through the Messina Strait, a narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily (Punta del Faro) and the western tip of Calabria (Punta Pezzo) in Southern Italy to Fincantieri's Marghera, Venice shipyard where Queen Anne’s build will be completed.

Queen Anne will set sail on her maiden season in 2024.

View Queen Anne voyages