212
The Last Resource
passenger transport began. The sale and ‘retirement’ of the Queen
Mary and the Queen Elizabeth were signs of this swing away from
these forms of trans—oceanic transport. Their successor, the Queen
Elizabeth H, is a sleeker, smaller vessel designed with both cruise
and trans—Atlantic services in mind. The design for cruising,
emphasized by the high proportion—over 75 per cent—of cabins
with an ocean view and the overall high standard of accommodation,
recognizes the continuing run—down of the trans—Atlantic passenger
list. just after the Second World War almost a million passengers
made the crossing every year but, with the arrival of the ‘jet age’,
these numbers have been halved. Comparatively few people have
the time to make the leisurely crossing by boat between North
America and Western Europe—and more and more of those are
deciding that a slow comfortable trip can take in more interesting
sights than seemingly endless miles of ocean.
By the end of the century, the bulk cargo carriers which so
dominate the scene may also be losing ground. We have already seen
the demise of the coal—carriers and as oil and natural gas deposits
lose ground to nuclear power perhaps the giant tankers will no
longer be needed. According to the late ]. M. Murray, formerly
Chief Ship Surveyor of Lloyds Register for Shipping, ‘In the end
it is probable that bulk cargoes will be piped across oceans instead
of being carried by ships. . . . Passengers and light freight will be
carried by hovercraft, but it does not seem possible that the general
cargo carrier in some form or other will ever disappear. That could
only happen if, as in the vision of St John the Divine, there was no
more sea.’
The Last Resource
passenger transport began. The sale and ‘retirement’ of the Queen
Mary and the Queen Elizabeth were signs of this swing away from
these forms of trans—oceanic transport. Their successor, the Queen
Elizabeth H, is a sleeker, smaller vessel designed with both cruise
and trans—Atlantic services in mind. The design for cruising,
emphasized by the high proportion—over 75 per cent—of cabins
with an ocean view and the overall high standard of accommodation,
recognizes the continuing run—down of the trans—Atlantic passenger
list. just after the Second World War almost a million passengers
made the crossing every year but, with the arrival of the ‘jet age’,
these numbers have been halved. Comparatively few people have
the time to make the leisurely crossing by boat between North
America and Western Europe—and more and more of those are
deciding that a slow comfortable trip can take in more interesting
sights than seemingly endless miles of ocean.
By the end of the century, the bulk cargo carriers which so
dominate the scene may also be losing ground. We have already seen
the demise of the coal—carriers and as oil and natural gas deposits
lose ground to nuclear power perhaps the giant tankers will no
longer be needed. According to the late ]. M. Murray, formerly
Chief Ship Surveyor of Lloyds Register for Shipping, ‘In the end
it is probable that bulk cargoes will be piped across oceans instead
of being carried by ships. . . . Passengers and light freight will be
carried by hovercraft, but it does not seem possible that the general
cargo carrier in some form or other will ever disappear. That could
only happen if, as in the vision of St John the Divine, there was no
more sea.’