Carnival sues Rolls-Royce

Carnival Corp. has sued Rolls-Royce for more than $100 million over allegations that Rolls-Royce marketed and sold defective propulsion systems for the Queen Mary 2.

The system, known as the Mermaid pod propulsion system, has been targeted in lawsuits by other cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

The complaint states: “problems with the Mermaid pods on the QM2 began shortly after the ship was put into operation and have continued to date. The Mermaids are simply defective and do not function as it was represented that they would.”

“Rolls-Royce rejects the claims made by Carnival and will defend the action,” Rolls-Royce spokeswoman Mia Walton said. According to a 2001 press release, Rolls-Royce and Alstom Power Conversion developed the Mermaid system. The release called the Mermaid “the most powerful and flexible marine propulsion system in the world,” and said each system is optimized by the Rolls-Royce Hydrodynamic Research Centre in Kristinehamn in Sweden ? “ensuring maximum manoeuvrability with minimum noise and vibration levels.”