Queen ’surprised’ as Camilla is invited to launch Victoria

The British Queen has expressed “surprise” as Prince Charles’ wife Camilla has been chosen to launch Victoria instead of her.

It is the first time that one of the Cunard’s ‘Queen’ liners will not be named by a Queen. In 1934, Queen Mary launched the original Queen Mary liner and in 1938, Queen Elizabeth — the Queen Mother — named the QE1. The current Queen launched the QE2 in 1967 and the Queen Mary 2 in 1994. Camilla will become “godmother” of the 90,000-ton Queen Victoria — the second-largest ship ever built by Cunard. Prince Charles, who is said to be privately delighted at his wife’s growing public role, will accompany her. The ship, which has a casino, seven bars, seven restaurants, a theatre and two pools, departs on her maiden voyage later this month and it will be the first time three Cunard “Queens” are in service at the same time.

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Somali pirates free UAE-owned cargo ship

Somali pirates freed on Sunday a Comoros-flagged cargo ship owned by businesspersons from the United Arab Emirates.

It was held for six weeks with a 22-man crew since its capture off Mogadishu. The crew were mainly Indian nationals. Piracy has been rife off Somalia since it plunged into anarchy with the 1991 fall of a dictator. Pirates also hijacked a Japanese chemical tanker, the Golden Nori, at the end of October, and are thought to be seeking a ransom of more than $1 million. The Golden Nori’s 23-man crew are from Myanmar, the Philippines and South Korea.

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Indian firms to set up shipyards at Rs 10,000-cr outlay

Scarcity of bulk carriers and offshore supply vessel in the global market has forced several Indian companies to look at setting up large shipbuilding yards in the country at a total investment of Rs 10,000 crore.

HK Mittal family — promoter of domestic shipping company Mercator is to set up two shipbuilding yards, one each in Gujarat and Maharashtra with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore. The shipbuilding yards would make specialized offshore vessels, jack-up rigs and chemical tankers, up to 75,000 dead weight tons. Besides the Mittal, engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro, Shipping Corporation of India, SKIL Infrastructure, Good Earth Maritime, Apeejay Shipping have announced plans to enter shipbuilding.  The Central Government has announced that it wants to set up two big shipbuilding yards, one in east coast and another in west coast, each attracting an investment of Rs 2,000 crore each.

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