La noticia original:
"Cunard Line has announced that for many more years to come its acclaimed flagship, "Queen Mary 2", will continue to be the biggest (148,528 gt), the longest (1,132 feet), the tallest (236 feet) the widest (135 feet) and, at a cost of US$ 800 million, the most expensive passenger ship in history.
"'Queen Mary 2' has proven to be extremely popular with our valued guests, and in order to be able to give even more people from around the globe an opportunity to sail in this already legendary liner, we proudly announce that 'QM2' will undergo a 'chop-and-stretch' operation this upcoming fall," Cunard spokeswoman April Scherz said.
"Queen Mary 2" will return to her birthplace, the renowned Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in France, in October. There, a pre-fabricated, 98 ft. middle section will be added by cutting the ship in half and then inserting the section. This will increase the ship's length to 1230 feet and its gross tonnage to 186,000 gt.
Construction on the new "QM2" section has commenced at the St. Nazaire shipyard. It will include 231 additional staterooms and suites, as well as some exciting new public spaces, on which details will be announced, soon.
As a result of "Queen Mary 2's" extended drydocking during which the "stretching operation" will be carried out, the ship's October 14th, 20th, 16th, and November 1st trans-Atlantic crossings have been cancelled. Passengers on the affected sailings who will receive attractive alternative offers will be contacted by Cunard within the next couple of weeks." (
cb.ruderhaus.de/)
He buscado confirmación de la noticia en la página de Cunard (en las noticias de prensa)y en el astillero y no aparece por lo que, aunque yo recibí la noticia ayer día 3, fue originalemnte el 1 de abril que en USA es su "día de inocentes" (hoy día 4 continua colgada la noticia). Es decir, he caído como un "inocente" USA.
Se trata de una incocentada que por ser técnicamente verosimil y empresarialmente factible, dado que Carnival anunció hace tiempo su intención de hacer un barco de este tamaño para superar a RCCI con sus super-voyager de 160.000 TRB. Alargar el QM2 a mi per parece absurdo -pues dados a alargar hacerlo con otro- pero no por ello aparentemente factible.