The MSC Splendida has become the latest MSC Cruises ship to restart summer sailings with her seven-night itinerary to the Eastern Mediterranean from the northern Italian port of Trieste.
Calls are to Ancona, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Bari, Italy; the Greek island of Corfu and Kotor in Montenegro or Split in Croatia before the vessel returns to Trieste with embarkation available in each of the Italian ports, according to an MSC press release.
Four daily transfer shuttles for MSC Cruises guests will run from Venice’s Marco Polo airport and one from the city centre to the cruise terminal in Trieste offering a convenient service for embarking guests who have flown to Italy from Europe. Prices per person are Euros €25 one way and Euros €50 return, according to the company.
The MSC Splendida represents the company’s fifth ship to resume cruise holidays this summer. The MSC Grandiosa and MSC Seaside are sailing in the West Mediterranean, the MSC Orchestra is operating in the East Mediterranean and the MSC Virtuosa is cruising in the UK for British guests only.
The MSC Magnifica will resume sailings on June 20 from Italy for voyages in the East Mediterranean, the MSC Seaview will restart on July 3 from Kiel in Germany for sailings in the Baltic Sea to Sweden and Estonia followed by MSC Seashore making her maiden sailing from the end of July in the West Mediterranean.
MSC Cruises has announced that it has become the industry’s first major line to have its entire food safety supply chain and fleet of ships certified for onboard food safety by the global International Organization for Standardization, commonly known as ISO.
The company heralded its celebratory success on the World Health Organization’s ‘World Food Safety Day 2021’ today, following the granting of the internationally acclaimed and recognized ISO22000 food safety management system certification for 17 of the Company’s ships.
“We’re extremely proud to be on top of the cruise industry’s league table for WHO’s World Food Safety Day with our fleet of ships and delighted that our entire food supply chain ‘from farm to fork’ has been certified,” said Genoa-based Managing Director of MSC Cruises’ Food and Beverage Division, Paolo Raia.
“We have demonstrated at MSC Cruises that our industry-leading health and safety protocol goes above and beyond what regulatory authorities demand, and it’s no different with food safety as we always strive to go one step further than what is required,” he added.
MSC’s two new vessels for 2021 – the MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore – are on track to be certified in the next few months, the cruise line said.
Onboard audits are undertaken by Bureau Veritas to verify that the highest standards of food safety are undertaken by MSC Cruises for its guests and crew. This year alone, MSC said, Bureau Veritas has conducted 36 separate audit days and examined more than 5,000 food safety records onboard the cruise line’s ships.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, MSC Cruises annually served up nearly 285 million dishes and poured more than 125 million drinks for its guests, according to a press release.
Raja said that food safety is “understandably” taken for granted within day-to-day society.
“A cruise ship needs to have a systematic, well-considered and planned approach in place to guarantee the food safety for guests and crew on board,” he said.
2021 will see two new MSC Cruises vessels enter the market, the MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore, and both ships will be equipped with a wide range of the latest-generation environmental technologies and equipment, according to the cruise line.
Both newbuilds will feature hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) and selective catalytic reduction systems (SCR), achieving a 98% reduction of sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions and reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 90%.
Their wastewater treatment systems have been designed in line with the International Maritime Organization’s MEPC 227(64) Resolution and achieve purification standards that are higher than most wastewater treatment facilities ashore, MSC announced, in a press release.
As all MSC Cruises’ newbuilds, they will also be equipped with shore power, allowing them to connect to local power grids where infrastructure is available.
Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman said: “Our long-term goal is to achieve a zero-impact cruise operation and this is the journey we are on today. As we work with our partners to identify new technologies that will bring us closer to this goal with each new ship that we build and bring into service, we continue to equip our ships with the latest and most effective technologies in the market.”
In addition, MSC has also announced that it is partnering with several industry players in a research project that promotes low-carbon shipping by combining progressive energy technologies and innovative ship design. Led by the University of Vaasa, the CHEK Consortium – deCarbonising sHipping by enabling Key Technology symbiosis on real vessels concept designs project – involves, in addition to MSC Cruises, the World Maritime University, Wärtsilä, Cargill, Lloyds Register, Silverstream Technologies, Hasytec, Deltamarin, Climeon and BAR Technologies.
The consortium is in line to receive significant funding from Horizon 2020 – the European Union’s framework programme for research and innovation.
According to MSC, the project will seek to demonstrate the synergistic benefits of innovative technologies including hydrogen propulsion, ultrasound antifouling, hull air-lubrication, waste to energy systems and digitalized optimization software, fully integrated to maximize efficiency across all aspects of ship operation.
Looking ahead, in 2022 MSC World Europa, the company’s first LNG-powered vessel will be delivered.
The first LNG ship for MSC will also get a 50-kilowatt, LNG-powered solid oxide fuel cell technology project that offers a potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a further 25% compared to a conventional LNG engine.
Linden Coppell, MSC Cruises’ Director of Sustainability, noted: “Every new ship that joins our fleet incorporates solutions to minimise our environmental footprint. MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore will be no exception. As new technologies are identified, we also work to improve the existing fleet, investigating retrofit opportunities, incorporating new energy reduction measures, working extensively with industry experts and seeking out drop-in alternative fuels to achieve the ambitious carbon intensity reduction goals of our industry.”
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