Tag Archives: Fincantieri shipyard

Construction begins on Seven Seas Explorer®: The Most Luxurious Ship in the World™

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July 15, 2014 by 

Construction began this morning for Seven Seas Explorer at the Fincantieri shipyard in Genoa, Italy. The crisp pop of a cork being freed from a Krug Grande Cuvée magnum initiated a laser, which cut the ceremonial first piece of steel for the new ship.  Incorporating a bottle of the world’s finest champagne to start the building process is symbolic of the high level of sophistication and design being developed for Seven Seas Explorer, which is scheduled to debut in summer 2016.

The ceremonial first piece of steel cut this morning will serve as the foundation for an opulent, one-of-a-kind suite unlike any other at sea. The owner’s suite resplendent with exquisite stonework and luscious fabrics will serve as a hallmark for the superior level of elegance found throughout the ship.

During the ceremony, Kunal S. Kamlani, president of Regent Seven Seas Cruises®, and Gabriele Cocco, senior executive vice president of merchant ships for Fincantieri, began a countdown that culminated with Maison Krug Italy’s master sommelier, Michela Cimatoribus, releasing the cork from a magnum of Krug Grande Cuvée.  As the cork soared and the champagne flowed, confetti cascaded down and the laser cut the first piece of steel for the 750-passenger ship.

 

“We’re one step closer to fulfilling our dream of building the most luxurious ship in the world and giving our guests another exciting option to explore inspired global destinations with our special brand of all-inclusive luxury,” noted Kamlani.  “Seven Seas Explorer will surpass the current standard in luxury cruising, offering a new level of grandeur throughout the ship from its lavish suites to its elegant public spaces and gourmet restaurants.”

When she debuts in the summer 2016, Seven Seas Explorer will establish a new benchmark for style and service. At 54,000 gross-registered tons and carrying only 750-guests, Seven Seas Explorer will boast the highest space ratios and staff-to-guest ratios in the cruise industry, as well as an opulent one-of-a-kind suite unlike any other at sea.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises will begin taking reservations for her maiden voyage and inaugural season in early 2015.  Will you be among the first to sail aboard ‘The Most Luxurious Ship Ever Built™?

Concordia, by the numbers

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By Tom Stieghorst

Although I’m loath to admit it, numbers can tell a story just as effectively as words sometimes. Or images.

We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words. So when it comes to the Costa Concordia, the image of the ship being towed to Genoa, Italy, next week will go further than any number of words in showing that the ship is at last floating again and on its way to oblivion.

More intriguing are the numbers. In a graphic compiled by CNN from numbers released by the Costa Concordia’s builder, Fincantieri, and the salvage consortium Titan Micoperi, some numbers are juxtaposed, making for several eye-opening stories.

First are the dollars. Costa CEO Michael Thamm said this week the meter on the Concordia accident has reached 1.5 billion euros, including the cost of demolition and recycling over the next two years. That’s about $2.04 billion at current exchange rates.

According to the CNN graphic, the Concordia took about $612 million to build. By that math, recovering the wrecked Concordia cost more than three times the price of building the new Concordia. Somewhere there’s a lesson there about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure.*TomStieghorst

Likewise, the numbers show it took about 20 months to build the 114,000-ton ship at Fincantieri back in 2004, but will take about 54 months, or four-and-a-half years from the time of the accident, to remove and unbuild it.

The graphic shows a loss of 12,000 tourists since the accident in the island of Giglio, but I think that’s misleading. Most of the tourists lost were likely Italians or Europeans from other nearby countries.

The Concordia accident, for better or worse, made Giglio nearly a household name in countries around the world that never heard of it before. I think over the long term it may lead to more tourism, despite the short-term losses.

Another story told through numbers appears dramatic but again is misleading. Of the 500 people who worked on the salvage team, fewer than 12 were locals, according to the graphic.

I have no idea how that count was made, or if it is accurate, but I do know that salvage work of the magnitude involved in raising the Concordia requires world-class expertise, and is not the kind of thing where local hiring outreach makes a lot of sense.

Another set of numbers is also about people: 3,200 passengers, 32 killed, one missing. With that there can be no argument.

FINCANTIERI: “VIKING STAR” LAUNCHED IN MARGHERA

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FINCANTIERI: “VIKING STAR” LAUNCHED IN MARGHERA
Today the Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera saw the launching of the “Viking Star”, the first of three cruise ships that Fincantieri is currently building for Viking Ocean Cruises. The ship will now move into the fitting-out stage, leading to its scheduled delivery in the spring of 2015.
Fincantieri has already started work on the “Viking Sea” and the “Viking Sky”, the second and third ships in the series, which will be respectively delivered at the Marghera shipyard in the spring of 2016 and at the Ancona shipyard during the summer of the same year.

Attending the ceremony for the shipowner was Torstein Hagen, founder and chairman of Viking Cruises, while Fincantieri was represented, among others, by Antonio Quintano, the yard manager.

“Viking Star”, like its two sister ships, will be positioned in the small cruise ship segment. In fact, with a gross tonnage of about 47,800 tons, it will have 465 cabins with accommodation for 930 passengers.
The ship has been designed by SMC Design of London, while Rottet Studio in Los Angeles has been engaged to design its interior, where every attention will be paid to style and elegance.

The construction of this series of ships is evidence of the solid business relationship between Viking and Fincantieri.