From correspondents in Lisbon, Portugal
January 16, 2004
THE world's largest ocean liner, the Queen Mary 2, has arrived at the Portuguese island of Madeira under tight security following an anonymous bomb threat.
The ship was escorted by two police boats as it arrived on schedule in the port of Funchal, capital of the island located off the coast of Morocco, and was docked away from the other ships.
The London headquarters of the British shipping company Cunard, which owns the ship, last night received three anonymous phone calls in which the caller said there were bombs on board the ocean liner, according to Luis Aguiar, a representative of the company's affiliate in Portugal.
Two divers today inspected the port waters before the ship's arrival in Funchal and gave the all clear.
Dozens of security agents could be seen guarding the area near the ship, which was declared off-limits to the public and to non-authorised vehicles.
On arrival in Funchal the black-hulled 345-metre ship was greeted by about 20 other vessels and thousands of onlookers who gathered on the oceanfront, the Lusa news agency reported.
Garlands of flowers and miniature bottles of the local Madeira wine were distributed to the 2620 passengers on board.
Luxury buses were made available to passengers wishing to visit the scenic island.
The ship was due to leave Funchal later today to continue its maiden voyage to Fort Lauderdale, in the southern US state of Florida. Its next stop is Spain's Canary Islands.
The voyage is the first serious test of Queen Mary 2's seaworthiness since it was constructed and launched last year at Saint Nazaire, on the French Atlantic coast.
It was baptised by Queen Elizabeth II at a pomp-filled ceremony in Southampton, its home port, last week.
Cunard says the ship, which has 17 decks, four swimming pools and a host of luxury shops, cost $US800 million ($1.04 billion).