THE QUEEN Mary 2 is currently out of action while she undergoes a major refurbishment.

The Southampton-based cruise ship is currently in the Blohm & Voss Shipyard in the German city of Hamburg.

For the past week she has been undergoing the initial stages of the renovation that will see 35 additional staterooms added to the top deck.

Elsewhere on board the Queen Mary 2, a new set of 15 single cabins are being fitted as well as 12 kennels.

On top of this the ship, which is the flagship of the British Merchant Marine, is being refurbished from bow-to-stern, with much of the Queen Mary 2's fixtures being removed, the ship's hull being cleaned and major structural work taking place.

It took hours of careful manoeuvring to get the 150,000 tonne ship into the dry dock.

Once in, the water was removed from the dry dock and the ship's keel sat barley more than 33 inches (850mm) above dry ground.

Queen Mary 2 went into the shipyard for this major renovation work last Friday and will be completed almost a month later on Tuesday, June 21.

During this time, more than 2,600 contractors and 1,200 crew will work on the renovation of the Queen Mary 2.

This will involve carpets being removed and the hull's paint stripped off.

While this is taking place the White Star Service will remain in the galleys, catering for the contractors and crew on board.

After the renovation is complete, the vessel will return to Southampton, arriving back in the city on Thursday, June 23.

She will then set sail later that same day on an Atlantic crossing to New York.

This is the route that Queen Mary 2 was originally built for and makes it the only true ocean liner in the world.