Queen Mary 2 visits Fremantle

The Fremantle Port welcomed the Queen Mary 2 , the biggest ship to enter the inner harbour, on 17 February after a tricky manoeuvre which the ship turned itself on its axis in the harbour without needing assistance from waiting tugs.

Hundreds of West Australian’s lined Victoria Quay and the North and South Moles to watch the 345 metre liner make its entrance and turn in the 420-metre-wide harbour.

The 150,000 tonne Queen Mary 2, which can carry up to 2620 guests and 1253 crew, made its second visit to the Fremantle Port as part of a round-the-world voyage. The vessel, that reaches 62 metres above the water line, boasts 10 restaurants, five pools, the biggest ballroom at sea and the largest library afloat, featuring more than 8000 books.

Its sister ship, the Queen Elizabeth, will make its maiden voyage to Fremantle on 1 March 2011. Large crowds are expected to view the ship's arrival after about 100,000 people turned out for the maiden call of the Queen Mary 2 last year.

Over recent years, the cruise industry has been growing in Western Australia. Currently there are 39 cruise ship visits scheduled for 2011.

Fremantle Ports is upgrading facilities at the heritage-listed Fremantle Passenger Terminal, with an overall spend of about $2 million over two years. An economic impact study undertaken for Cruise Down Under (peak body in Australia for the cruise industry) showed that in 2008-09 the industry in WA generated about $55.1 million of expenditure, which resulted in an additional $25.8 million in value added (this included $41.7 million of expenditure within Perth, up significantly from $30.4 million in 2007-08).