SOUTHAMPTON'S Queen Mary 2, the biggest passenger liner the world has ever seen, is gradually taking shape in France.

This exclusive Daily Echo photograph gives an idea of the scale and size of the 150,000-ton Cunard ship, due in Southampton in a year's time.

When complete, QM2 will be twice the size of the present city-based flagship of the British merchant marine, Queen Elizabeth 2.

Never before in the history of shipping has such a complex project of this type been undertaken and already the construction of QM2 has been described as one of the great engineering feats of the 21st

century.

Built from scores of massive building blocks, which are brought to the building berth and assembled, QM2 already soars high into the skyline at Chantiers de l'Atlantique's yard at Saint-Nazaire.

When QM2 makes her dramatic entrance in Southampton Water at the end of 2003 she will be the largest, widest, tallest and most expensive passenger liner ever built.

At the moment an army of up to 3,000 workers swarm over the ship's hull and superstructure as they prepare QM2 for the next vital stage in her construction.

In just a few weeks the vast vessel will, in a delicate and meticulously planned operation, be floated from its present dry dock to a nearby fitting-out berth.

Next December QM2 will be in Southampton preparing for a series of glittering dockside events before her maiden voyage in January, 2004.

QM2 FACTFILE:

Scheduled to enter service in 2004, Queen Mary 2 will be the first transatlantic liner to enter service since Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1969.

GENERAL BUILDER: Alstom Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire, France

GROSS REGISTERED TONNAGE: Approximately 150,000 tons

LENGTH: 1131 feet (345 metres)

BEAM: 131 feet (40 metres)

BEAM AT BRIDGE WINGS: 147 feet 6 inches (45 metres)

DRAFT: 32 feet ten inches (10 metres)

HEIGHT (KEEL TO FUNNEL): 236 feet 2 inches (72 metres)

COST: Estimated $700m

PASSENGERS: 2,800

CREW: 1300

TOP SPEED: Approximately 30 knots (34.5 mph)

POWER: Environmentally friendly, gas turbine / diesel electric plant developing 140,000 horsepower