SOUTHAMPTON'S Queen Mary 2, the biggest and most expensive liner in the history of shipping, will include unique passenger facilities, the Daily Echo can reveal.

QM2, with a staggering price-tag of half a billion pounds, is due to set sail from Southampton Docks at the end of 2003.

Previously undreamt of passenger luxuries and amenities will include: a university of the seas offering travellers the chance to learn while cruising, planetarium, museum, brewery and an undercover garden as well as sumptuous apartments which people can purchase.

It is believed Cunard's parent company, the Miami-based Carnival Corporation, is close to signing a contract with the French yard of Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire for the construction of the ship after months of behind-the-scenes discussions.

The creation of QM2 has been the vision of Larry Pimentel, Cunard's American based president, who is determined that a ship for the 21st century would recall the former great liner, and firm Southampton favourite, Queen Mary.

The European headquarters of Cunard, based in Southampton, has expanded into larger offices and is beginning to recruit extra staff as the shipping line prepares for QM2.

Quite simply, Southampton, throughout its long history as a major port, will not have seen anything like the awesome sight of QM2, towering nearly 250 feet above the waves, when she makes her first dramatic entry into the city's docks.

More than twice the size of the present flagship of the British merchant marine, Queen Elizabeth 2, the 150,000 ton Cunard megaliner will be 1,131 feet long and its four engines will produce enough energy to power the whole of Southampton.

She will power across the Atlantic between South-ampton and New York at around 30 knots in a class all of her own.

Of the ship's 1,400 staterooms around three-quarters will have their own private balconies and four ultra-luxury suites will be available for people to buy and to use permanently as their own sea-going home.

Expert lecturers will be employed for QM2's university afloat offering passengers specialist courses in a wide-spread of subjects.