Andy
The Copenhagen charter you referred to was the Novo Nordisk Charter from 14 - 21 May 2005.
The late charter (September 2004) actually resulted in the cancellation of the planned 2 - 21 May Caribbean cruise to / from Southampton. A replacement 12-day Med cruise was substituted (2 - 14 May) and then the charter.
Danish Pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk wanted to charter QE2 as an incentive for its entire US sales team (1100 people) while visiting the company's HQ in Denmark. Originally QE2 was to be berthed at Copenhagen but due to impending EU Environmental Compliance Regulations it was not possible to berth her at Langelinie in Copenhagen as 'water under the keel' requirements could not be met. Cunard could not find a suitable alternative port but a large travel agency suggested Amagervaerket - a coal port owned by Denmark's largest energy company, E2. A special permit had to be granted by the Minister of Transport to enable this but Cunard was initially reluctant to have QE2 alongside here but relented once it was promised to clean up the berth and that there would be a cleaning contractor on site for the duration of her stay to clean any coal deposits or contain any coal spillages.
14 May - Southampton
15 May - At Sea
16 - 19 May - Amagervaerket
20 May - At Sea
21 May - Southampton
And here she is at Amagervaerket.
Thank-you Michael,
I remember the recce well as my arrival in Copenhagen coincided with a Danish public holiday! However, the agent was so keen to get QE2 to go to Amagervaerket that he forsook a day at home with his family, to collect me from my hotel and take me to look around the proposed berth. To say it was pretty dirty is an understatement, as it was a coal berth it was almost 'knee deep' in coal dust, but the berth manager 'promised sincerely' that it would be cleaned. True to his word, when we arrived it had been washed and there was no traces of any coal dust in the area's that QE2's passengers & crew were going to walk along. The was also a raised & covered walkway constructed along to dock side. Somewhere i have a few photos of our time there which i'll dig out and post.
It was handy as well that i had done the recce when i was attached to Port Operations in Cunard's Miami Office and then, when the charter took place, i was Chief Security Officer onboard QE2.
