FKN - 056 - Cruise Ship Queen Mary 2 on her visit to Cochin.

Stock Image No: FKN - 056
Photograph 11: RMS Queen Mary 2 sailing from Cochin Harbour on 8th March 2007.
The Queen Mary 2 is the current Cunard flagship and makes regular transatlantic crossings. The ship was constructed to complement the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) - the Cunard flagship from 1969 to 2004 - replacing it on the transatlantic route. The first RMS Queen Mary sailed the Atlantic from 1936 to 1967. The prefix "RMS" on the QM2 originally stood for "Royal Mail Steamer", but now stands for "Royal Mail Ship". QM2 had the RMS title conferred on her by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route as a gesture to Cunards history. The QM2 is not a steamship like her predecessors, but is powered by gas turbines and diesel engines that produce the power to drive her four electric podded propulsors. Also like her predecessors, she is a transatlantic ocean liner, as opposed to a cruise ship, though she is used for cruising purposes from time to time.