MSC Cruises has revealed that the new ship MSC Euribia will offer sailings out of Southampton from October 2023 and throughout winter 2023/24.
Itineraries will include visits to destinations such as Amsterdam, Bruges and Paris. There will be five-night options, from £359pp, seven-night cruises starting at £499pp and a 21-night itinerary departing on 5 January 2024 and calling at Casablanca, the Canary Islands and Lisbon, with prices starting at £2,399pp.
Launching in 2023, MSC Euribia is set to be “a truly sustainable ship”, the line said.
It will be the second ship in the MSC fleet to be powered by liquefied natural gas. The hull artwork, designed by artist Alex Flämig and called#SaveTheSea, was chosen to represent “MSC Cruises’ message of dedication to helping protect the marine ecosystem”, according to a statement.
MSC Euribia ‘leading sustainability’
MSC Cruises UK & Ireland managing director Antonio Paradiso said: “We are committed to offering the best possible experience for our guests from the UK and Ireland and that is why our newest ship, MSC Euribia, will be in the UK during 2023 and 2024.
“Since our first full ex-UK season back in 2018, we’ve seen a huge demand for stress-free, no-fly cruises from Southampton on board MSC Virtuosa.
“Basing MSC Euribia in the UK will help us to build on this success by offering our UK customers the chance to experience one of the most impressive cruise experiences offering leading sustainability technology and cutting-edge design features.”
MSC Cruises has opened sales for the MSC Euribia, the line’s most environmentally advanced ship in its fleet and its second LNG-powered ship currently under construction at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France, due to launch in early June 2023.
The ship will spend her inaugural season in Northern Europe from the German port of Kiel.
The Euribia will offer seven-night itineraries sailing to the Norwegian fjords with calls including Copenhagen, Denmark; Hellesylt, Norway for the Geirangerfjord; as well as Alesund and Flam, also in Norway, among others.
According to a press release, Euribia will look different from her sister ships in the Meraviglia-Plus class, thanks to “an exclusive artwork designed as a commitment by MSC Cruises to the sea.”
The cruise line held an exclusive international design competition through Talent House to create a “unique artwork” for the ship’s hull, inspired by the sea and its important marine ecosystem.
The design highlights “the steps that the company is taking towards a greener future” and will be featured on the ship’s hull permanently.
MSC said that it had designs from 59 countries worldwide submitted. The winner was German artist Alex Flaemig whose artwork will adorn the ship’s exterior.
Five finalists will have their designs displayed onboard the ship in a new art gallery, MSC said.
Executive Chairman of the Cruise Division of MSC Group, Pierfrancesco Vago, said: “In response to the growing need to protect the ocean for future generations, we have made it our mission to equip our ships with the latest and most advanced environmental technologies and solutions, with MSC Euribia showcasing the best of them to-date.
“The contest to design the hull for our latest LNG ship was launched to help us communicate our unwavering commitment to the environment as this ship sails the world.
“Flaemig’s design perfectly captured this message of passion and dedication to preserving the marine environment and its complex ecosystem and delivers a strong call to action to everyone who sees this ship to save the seas.”
Competition winner Alex Flaemig added: “In order to make people even more aware of this unique underwater world with its precious life, I have graphically placed a small section of this ecosystem on the hull of the MSC Euribia. What was important to me was not only the representation of the underwater world but also a message about how it should be preserved.“
I also want to express that an intact sea is also the basis for a healthy ecosystem on land. I want to emphasize this with the representation of birds, insects and leaves, and last but not least with the globe. It is still important to me to inspire people and encourage them to participate.”
Flaemig is a native of Dresden, Germany, and was inspired by “the opportunity to transform the hull of the MSC Euribia into a giant, floating canvas to highlight the importance of respect for the environment.”
His #SaveTheSea design features an underwater world with its precious life and weaves together the colours of the MSC Cruises and MSC Foundation logos, the cruise line said. This blending creates a gradient effect that paints sea fauna and flora across the hull.
The winning artwork was selected from entries from around the world by a panel of international judges including sand artist Jben, known for his large-scale sand frescoes that wash away with the tide, architect Martin Francis and Executive Chairman of the Cruise Division of MSC Group, Pierfrancesco Vago.
Euribia will come into service in 2023 and become the second LNG-powered ship in the MSC Cruises fleet. The cruise line said that LNG plays a “key role” in the journey towards climate change mitigation and will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 25 per cent on the Euribia compared to standard fuels while also virtually eliminating other air emissions.
As bio and synthetic fuels become available, Euribia’s emissions will be further reduced, according to the press release.
LNG is key to the development of low carbon solutions for shipping as emerging technologies such as fuel cells can be operated with LNG until zero emissions bio-LNG or green hydrogen become available at scale.
MSC Cruises said it is “actively involved” in several projects to develop and make these technologies viable in partnership with regulators, academia, shipyards and industry. This includes a project to study the use of hydrogen fuel in cruise ships in partnership with Fincantieri and SNAM, as well as a pilot project for the development of solid oxide fuel cell technology for cruise ships with Chantiers de l’Atlantique and Bloom Energy.
Euribia will utilize an advanced wastewater treatment system, as well as an underwater radiated noise management system to minimize the effects of vibrations on marine life. Multiple energy efficiency features help reduce and optimize engine use.
MSC Cruises stated it was committed to powering at least three upcoming ships with LNG, representing a total investment exceeding 3 billion euros.
MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique have celebrated two milestones for the construction of the cruise line’s next generation of vessels.
MSC World Europa was floated out for the first time at the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. Meanwhile, a traditional coin ceremony took place as the keel was laid for MSC Euribia, with Anne Claire Juventin, who is responsible for quality control at Chantiers de l’Atlantique, and Valentina Mancini, brand manager from MSC Cruises, performing the role of godmothers.
MSC World Europa and MSC Euribia will become the first LNG-powered vessels to join the MSC Cruises fleet next year, with the construction on MSC World Europa II due to commence in early 2023. The three newbuilds represent an investment of €3 billion ($3.39 billion) by the cruise line.
“Today is another important milestone in our journey towards net zero emissions by 2050 for our marine operations,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises. “We have a lot more to do but I am pleased that despite all that we have faced from the pandemic over the last two years, we have still been able to achieve with our partners at Chantiers de L’Atlantique the launch of these new LNG vessels – the first ever made in France.”
Chantiers de l’Atlantique and MSC Cruises also confirmed that a fuel cell pilot plant known as Blue Horizon will also be installed onboard MSC World Europa. The plant will produce electricity from the ship’s LNG fuel through electrochemical reactions at its electrodes, unlike currently installed engine generators which produce electricity through fuel combustion.
The fuel cell technology selected by Chantiers de l’Atlantique and MSC Cruises is the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) developed by Bloom Energy. The SOFC uses ceramic materials, allowing operation at temperatures of up to 800C at the core of the fuel cell. This allows for electrical efficiency of around 60 per cent and provides the opportunity to recover significant heat from the exhausts, which will bring the overall efficiency of the system close to 90 per cent. The Blue Horizon pilot plant installed onboard MSC World Europa will consist of two 75-kilowatt modules.
The technology will be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent compared to conventional dual-fuel engines, without producing nitrogen oxide, sulphur oxide or particulate matter emissions. SOFC is also compatible with a range of fuels, including bio or synthetic LNG, methanol, ammonia and hydrogen. The operational data and technical feedback from the ship will be provided to Chantiers de l’Atlantique and Bloom Energy to enable improvements of the technology in the future.
“With MSC World Europa, we have designed and built a cruise ship with an outstanding level of performance and efficiency,” said Laurent Castaing, general manager of Chantiers de l’Atlantique. “The integration of this fuel cell demonstrator allows us to take a major step forward and imagine what the cruise ship of the future will be like.”
MSC World Europa has now been moved to a wet dock for work to continue ahead of her scheduled delivery in November 2022. The ship will spend her inaugural season in the Gulf region offering seven-night cruises from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Construction will continue on MSC Euribia, with a global design contest for artists to create artwork for the ship’s hull inspired by the sea and the marine ecosystem.
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