歓迎!! Queen Victoria's Master

クルーズニュースなどでは既報ですが、来年就航の"Queen Victoria"のキャプテン
が決まりました。Capt.ポール・ライト（Paul Wright）氏です。

この件に関して、キュナードからDMが届きました。
ちょっとご紹介。

A Warm Welcome to Queen Victoria's Master We want you to be among the first to know of Captain Paul Wright's appointment as the first Master of Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria promises to uphold our proudest traditions of renowned White Star ServiceTM, grand public rooms and the unique Grills Experience. Captain Wright will be sailing Queen Victoria to the Northern Waters and the Canary Islands before embracing our spirit of adventure by embarking on her Maiden World Cruise in January 2008. We're sure you'll join us in congratulating Captain Wright on his historic appointment, and hope you will join him on board in 2008. It is 41 years since Paul Wright first set to sea as a young cadet with Shell Tankers. After four years of hard work, he duly completed his cadetship in 1969 and joined Canadian Pacific for his first taste of life aboard a passenger ship, the Empress of Canada as a Junior Deck Officer. Yet it was not until a decade later that Wright joined Cunard, bringing with him wide-ranging experience earned during stints aboard container and cargo ships, ferries and even hovercraft. Cunard Countess welcomed Wright into the Cunard fleet in 1980, and he later embarked on enjoyable voyages with Cunard Princess, Sagafjord, QE2, Cunard Dynasty and Queen Mary 2. Wright's obvious qualities and capabilities ensured he soon secured his first appointment of Master, captaining Cunard's last cargo ship Atlantic Conveyor in 1992. Wright subsequently attained the same position aboard Cunard Dynasty (1997), QE2 (1999) and Queen Mary 2. In fact, his relationship with our flagship is an intimate one, having spent several months in St Nazaire during her construction prior to commissioning and becoming alternate Master of Queen Mary 2 when she entered service in 2004. Queen Mary 2 also provided one of Wright's most incredible experiences at sea: the rapturous welcome into Hamburg on her Maiden Call. We expect that he will relish many more such moments, and expectation is already building for three historic occasions: on 12 December 2007 Queen Victoria will greet Queen Elizabeth 2 for the very first time as they berth in Rotterdam together; on 6 January 2008 Southampton is sure to provide a warm send-off as she sets off on her Maiden World Cruise; seven days later, three Cunard Queens will meet in New York, an unprecedented event in our illustrious history. It will be a fitting moment for Captain Wright, the only person to serve as Master of three Cunard Queens.

Queen Victoriaの処女航海の案内
http://www.cunard.co.uk/QueenVictoria/default.asp?Active=about&sub=shipfacts

キュナードのキャプテンといえば、サー・ワーウィックがなんといっても有名ですが、
こういう"人"に焦点を当てるのがうまい船社と言えると思います。
キャリアは充分。

ただ、思うに、やはりキュナードのフラッグシップはQM2だと思うので、敢えてQVに彼を据えた
キュナードの真意が何処にあるのかっていうあたりが私の興味になります。
もしかしたら、世界一周が出来ないQM2を、彼らはフラッグシップとは思っていないのではないか？
なんていう事を考えてしまったりするのです...(^^!

QVの就航によってQE2の引退は確実でしょう。2010年までは引っ張るとは思いますが。

就航後のイベントも記載されていました。

2007/12/07 ロッテルダムでQE2と初のランデブー 2008/01/6-13 QE2と供に大西洋横断 2008/01/13 NYでキュナードの３隻が揃い踏み（skyblueさんが記事にされてましたね） 2008/02/24 QE2と組んで、２隻で世界一周バトンタッチクルーズの実施。 乗り換えはシドニーで行われます。P&Oがこういうクルーズを何度か実施してましたね。