Launch in doubt as 13 die in fall at 'Queen Mary' yard

At least 13 people were killed and 32 injured yesterday when a gangway collapsed connecting the dockside at the French port of St Nazaire and the newly built ocean liner the Queen Mary 2.

The disaster cast a pall over the launch of the Cunard liner, the biggest and most expensive ship of its kind in history, which was due to take place in Southampton on 8 January next year.

The Queen was set to lead the ceremony in front of 2,500 guests, with hundreds of thousands more people expected to line the Solent.

Four days later the QM2 was to set sail on its maiden voyage to Fort Lauderdale in Florida, carrying 3,000 passengers. The QM2 project, which aimed to restore Cunard's name to its former glory, is the biggest since the QE2 was launched in 1969.

Hundreds of visitors, many of them families of workers involved in the ship's construction, were enjoying an open day at the QM2 before it bade farewell to the west coast port that is the home of French shipbuilding. A series of gangways were in use at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, one of which suddenly gave way and sent people plunging 60 feet to the dry dock beneath them.

The site was closed and helicopters arrived to ferry victims to the General Hospital in St Nazaire. Four medical teams were at the dockyard, with surgery cancelled at the hospital to deal with more admissions. "It's a catastrophic incident for the families and workers just when so many of them were taking huge pleasure in visiting the ship," said Philippe Bouquet-Nadaud, the Chantiers de l'Atlantique personnel director.

One man on the gangway at the time, Jason Schmidtt, told French television that it was a miracle he had survived. "I could feel the gangway give way and I shouted to people to hang on, and I managed to hang on myself." The gangways were understood to have been installed only on Friday.

As the French Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, called for an immediate investigation into the disaster, a spokesman for Cunard said it was too soon to say whether the ship's launch would be delayed. "We won't know if it will affect delivery for a few days," Michael Gallagher said. "It's best not to speculate. We are still trying to make contact with people at the yard to find out exactly what happened. Obviously we're all very shocked, and our thoughts are with the victims and their families."

The decision to grant the construction contract to the French company Alstom rather than a British one was controversial. Mr Gallagher said no British yard was capable of the high specification that a liner of such unprecedented luxury demanded. The ship has a planetarium, an art gallery, a library and penthouse duplexes for some of the cabins. Its design, fittings and atmosphere are intended to hark back to the 1930s golden age of ocean-going liners at the same time as the ship offers state-of-the-art modern amenities.

Harland and Wolff in Belfast made a bid for the ship, but could only have built the hull, leaving the fitting to a German firm. Alstom tendered to do the job in full, at a price,£550m, that was 10 per cent lower than Harland and Wolff's. The president of Alstom, Patrick Kron, said he "was devastated by this tragic incident".

Construction on the 150,000-ton vessel had been very quick, the Cunard spokesman said, having begun only in January last year. During that time, Alstom nearly collapsed because of a cash shortage before the French government saved it with a controversial bail-out.

Work on the QM2, which stretches the length of four football fields and stands as high as a 23-storey building, was complete, and the ship was just back from its second sea trial. It was due to sail to Southampton some time before Christmas.

The effects of the disaster on Cunard's business could be damaging. The cancellation of QM2's maiden voyage would mean returning cash to passengers who have paid between £999 and £26,000 for the privilege of six days on board. The voyage was sold out two-and-a-half years ago.

The last time the shipping line staged so grand an event, in December 1994, was for the re-launch of the QE2. But because the re-fit was so delayed, hundreds of passengers who had booked the trip of a lifetime were told to go home, rather than taking a Christmas cruise to America.

Cunard has since been trying to rebuild its reputation. The line has not just staked half-a-billion pounds on the new vessel; it is betting its future on a single, vast ship.

The first Atlantic liner to be built in three decades was intended to capture the hearts and credit cards of the Americans, who constitute by far the most important cruise market.

The programme for QM2's schedule was already looking ambitious before yesterday's tragedy. If she fails to make it down the Solent on time, confidence in Cunard will be severely shaken once more.