Welcome aboard my little boat: Dwarfed by the world's biggest cruise liner, Queen Mary 2's captain perches on the bow of his vast ship

Ph otographs to mark the t enth anniversary of the Q ueen Mary 2

Captain Kevin Oprey stood precariously on the bulbous bow of the ship

Photographer James Morgan said the photos took 'months of planning'


The Queen Mary 2 is the largest ocean liner in the world and on Sunday her captain got a fresh view of her size and majesty.

Captain Kevin Oprey stood on the ship’s bulbous bow, which protrudes from the front of the 151,200 tonne liner, to pose for a portrait with his ship.

The photographs, taken to mark the tenth anniversary of the liner in May this year, were shot while she was docked at a port off the coast of Bali.

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Captain Kevin Oprey stands on the bulbous bow of the Queen Mary 2 off the coast of Bali in photographs taken to mark the ocean liner's tenth anniversary in May

It took months of strategic and safety planning to work out how to get Captain Oprey onto the bulbous bow, which helps to stabilise the ship and streamline movement, and dips in and out of the water depending on currents and swell.

But it was an idea too good to pass up.

‘When I suggested we photograph the captain standing on the bulbous bow, they all looked at me like I was a tiny bit mad, but the fact it hadn’t been done was why we had to do it,’ photographer James Morgan told MailOnline.

Mr Morgan was in Sydney last week when he got a call that the conditions in Bali were perfect for the shoot and so he hurried to the Indonesian island to capture the images.

However, by the time he arrived the conditions had worsened and he spent a ‘nervous five or six hours on the bridge’, before the weather calmed and they were able to get the captain safely onto the bulbous bow.

Mr Morgan said ‘safety was paramount’ and they used two safety boats to transport Captain Oprey to the bow. He took the shot from a small boat floating in front of the Queen Mary 2.

Vulnerable vantage point: Captain Kevin Oprey was dwarfed by his ship in the photographs, standing in front of the 151,200 tonne ship

Mr Morgan, who has been taking photos for Cunard, who own the Queen Mary 2, for ten years, says he wanted to take photographs for the anniversary of the liner that would showcase her beauty.

‘For me, the lines, the shapes, the curves of the Queen Mary 2, make her the most amazing ocean liner in the world, she really is,’ he said.

The Queen Mary 2 accommodates 2,620 passengers and 1,253 crew. In her first 10 years of operation, the ocean liner has undertaken more than 420 voyages including 200 transatlantic crossings.

She is currently completing a round-the-world journey to celebrate the tenth anniversary, culminating with a large celebration in Southampton in May.



In order to capture the size of the liner, the Sydney-based photographer used a very wide angle lens on his Nikon camera.

For Captain Oprey it was an experience he will never forget.

‘The captain was very, very, very excited to be part of it. It’s somewhere he’s never been; he’s always 12 storeys above conducting his team from the bridge,’ said Mr Morgan.

'I talked to him afterwards and he did tell me he felt very alone and very isolated being where he was.'

The captain said he felt 'excited' but also 'isolated' standing underneath the ship's soaring hull The Queen Mary 2 is currently completing a round-the-world voyage to mark its tenth anniversary, which will be marked with large celebrates in Southampton in May



