<p><font color="#000000">Cunard cruise ship lines, described as the most famous Ocean liners in the world, is mulling over the idea of taking legal action against Maltese port authorities after Wednesday&rsquo;s incident, when the luxurious Queen Victoria hit the quay along the Valletta Waterfront.<br />&nbsp;<br />On her first of six stop-overs in Malta scheduled for this year, the Queen Victoria got a bloody nose (on the stern) when it bumped into the quay in a mooring manoeuvre.&nbsp; </font></p><p><font color="#000000">The &pound;300 million luxury liner left Valletta harbour early on Thursday morning after repairs on the ship&rsquo;s dented stern were made overnight. <br />&nbsp;<br />A spokesperson for Cunard ships told maltastar.com that it is &ldquo;too early to say whether we will be taking any legal steps while the investigations are still taking place.&rdquo; <br />&nbsp;<br />Sources explained that there is a high possibility that the shipping line will be taking legal action against local port authorities. The reason is because the ship was being piloted by a Maltese captain. Port regulations stipulate that large ships &ndash; over 500 gross tonnage &ndash; are piloted by a Maltese pilot provided by local Port Authorities.</font></p><p><font color="#000000">Yet, local authorities are insisting that the ship developed a mechanical failure and hit the quay. The unofficial reason for the incident is in fact that the 90,000 tonnes liner&rsquo;s throttles got stuck while manoeuvring in the port and the ship kept moving towards the quay until it hit it.</font></p><p><img src="http://www.cruisecrazies.com/cruisenews/11.jpg" border="0" width="410" height="200" />&nbsp;</p><p><br /><font color="#000000">Wednesday&rsquo;s incident totted up the number of bad luck incidents to the Queen Victoria to 3 in the first 6 months of sailing.<br />&nbsp;<br />The captain, local agents Thomas C. Smith and crew did not lie back and think of England, so to speak.&nbsp; Local shipping industry and port authority workers told us that in no time at all the Malta Dry Docks surveyors were summoned to do a thorough damage assessment and technical survey.&nbsp; </font></p><p><br /><font color="#000000">Ship-chandlers were called in, we were told by suppliers, to acquire sufficient extra steel sheets and iron bars to augment the emergency supplies on board.<br />&nbsp;<br />Malta Dry Docks personnel did the necessary repairs to make 100% sure the ship will be able to make next port with no worries. On board technicians will carry on working round the clock to secure the safety factor to 1,000% a local ship agent told us.<br />&nbsp;<br />Meanwhile, the passengers were given extra time ashore although they were welcome to use the ship's hotel and catering facilities as usual. <br /></font></p>