Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth ship left Damen Shiprepair Brest after a 12-day repair & refit program. QE is the most recent addition to the fleet, having been delivered 2010.
The program was highly intensive with major systems being installed or overhauled. On arrival, the cruise ship was placed in Damen’s dry dock number 3, one of the biggest in Europe at 420 m, and the relevant manufacturers started immediately on maintenance to the stabilizers, bow thrusters, water intakes, and ABB Azipods.
Above the waterline work was continuing to install twin EGCS (exhaust gas cleaning systems) which, along with the pipe and ducting work, involved removal of a pair of cabins in order to accommodate the additional equipment. Inside, the refurbishment included a number of cabins and corridors, together with the SPA and part of the retail provision.
DSBr performed routine maintenance ashore to Queen Elizabeth’s tenders, lifeboats, and liferafts, and the yard also repainted the hull and topsides of the liner.
In total, about 250 people were at work on the refit project.