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Anchored on a dream

Tan Ee Loo | The Star/Asia News Network | Tue Jan 3 2012

Against the advice of his teachers, a naval architect turned his boyhood fascination with ships into a successful career.

DR STEPHEN Payne OBE was inspired to become a naval architect when he was just seven, after watching an episode on children's television show Blue Peter in which the then presenter Valerie Singleton sailed aboard the Queen Elizabeth luxury ocean liner.

He was amazed by the design of the ship, which quickly captured his imagination.

It was believed at the time (in the 1960s) that there wouldn't be any more big cruise liners in the future, but the son of a tea-taster and school secretary would prove otherwise thirty years later.

"After watching the show in 1967, I was bold enough to write to Blue Peter and told them about my ambition of designining an even bigger and better cruise liner when I grew up.

"It was the highlight of my career when I was appointed the designer and director of project management of Cunard Line flagship Queen Mary 2," says the naval architect who is based in Southampton, the United Kingdom.

According to Cunard's website, when the Queen Mary 2 entered service in 2004, it was the biggest passenger ship ever built. At 350 metres, it will stretch nearly four football fields in length.

When the Queen Mary 2 was successfully completed, Dr Payne, who is currently a principal consultant at PFJ Maritime Consulting Ltd, was awarded a Gold Blue Peter badge for his achievement - the highest honour among the badges awarded by the very television show that inspired him. Famous gold badge winners include author J.K. Rowling and footballer David Beckham.

"I remember drawing the first line on the drawing board, and five years later handing over the actual ship to Cunard," he says.

To pursue his interest in naval architecture, Dr Payne began building ship models - something he continues to do today.

"I often think that if you have a keen interest in a particular ship you would learn from building a model very quickly," he says.

"I didn't sign up for Ship Science immediately as nobody in my family had ever been to university before and my school advised me against taking a degree in naval architecture saying that I'd never get a job doing it.

"I actually started a chemistry degree at Imperial College London but my former physics master told me I'd been badly advised.

"He persuaded me to change and that's how I got to the University of Southampton," says the ship science graduate.