Cunard Line has announced plans for “Project Queen Mary” – the design and development of what it said will be the biggest and most luxurious ocean liner ever.

Revealing few details, company executives spoke largely in adjectives about the new project and said that details of the size, passenger capacity and deployment have yet to be detennined.

However, a Cunard spokesperson in England said that the new ship concept would be 84,000 tons. In that size range, it is also believed that the new ship will be able to accommodate some 2,000 passengers.

Cunard also did not say how many new liners it intends to build or when the first new ship would be delivered. If an order is placed in 1998, the first ship would probably be delivered in late 2000 or in 2001.