Tag Archives: MSC

MSC and Chantiers Mark Double Newbuild Milestones

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MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique today celebrated two significant new-build milestones for the construction of the line’s next generation of environmentally advanced vessels.

The new MSC World Europa was floated out, while the coin ceremony was held for the MSC Euribia. Of note, MSC also confirmed the World Europa will have a fuel cell on board.

The MSC World Europa and MSC Euribia will become the first LNG-powered vessels to join the MSC fleet next year representing an investment of €3 billion in Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) ships with the construction on MSC World Europa II due to commence in early 2023, according to a statement. 

Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises, said: “Today is another important milestone in our journey towards net zero emissions by 2050 for our marine operations. Following billions of euros of investment, we are announcing significant construction developments in not just one but two of our next-generation LNG-powered vessels bringing us ever closer to our vision of the emissions-free cruise industry.

“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 that will also introduce potential new fuel cell technologies to make them even more efficient. We now need to take even bigger steps and we will need the continued support of our suppliers, partners and Governments to achieve this. We all need to work together to achieve our green future.”

Laurent Castaing, General Manager, Chantiers de l’Atlantique, added: “It is indeed a very special moment we are living today. This is not only because these ships are respectively the 15th and the 16th we are building for MSC Cruises- which shows the outstanding quality of the relationship we established between our two companies since the ’90s. This is not only because they will rank among the largest and the finest of the world’s cruise market. But it is also and especially because they represent a giant step towards what the cruise ships of the future will look like. At their delivery, they will have the best carbon footprint of the market, in terms of emissions per passenger and per day”

MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique also confirmed today the installation of a fuel cell pilot plant onboard the MSC World Europa known as Blue Horizon. The technology will use LNG to convert fuel into electricity at one of the highest efficiencies of any power solution available today, producing electricity and heat on the ship, the company said. 

The fuel cell technology selected by Chantiers de l’Atlantique (CdA) and MSC Cruises is the SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell) developed by Bloom Energy.

The SOFC will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by about a further 30 per cent compared with a conventional LNG engine without producing emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides or fine particles.

Anne Claire Juventin responsible for Quality Control from Chantiers de l’Atlantique, and Valentina Mancini, Brand Manager from MSC Cruises performed the traditional maritime ritual as godmothers representing the shipowner and the shipbuilder when they placed two coins under the keel as the historical sign of blessing and good fortune for the project, and the ship’s operational life at sea.

The float out of MSC World Europa, which will be the first LNG-powered vessel to join the MSC Cruises fleet took place at the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire where she will now be moved to a wet dock for work to continue on the ship until her delivery in November 2022.

MSC Virtuosa back to Southampton

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Virtuosa just passing Seaforth Docks, Liverpool photo credit Space junkie2~

The line has announced that Virtuosa, which in May became the first ship to restart UK cruises since the pandemic, will replace the older and smaller MSC Magnifica which had been scheduled to operate.

Virtuosa, one of MSC’s newest ships and capable of carrying around 4,000 more guests than Magnifica, will offer a range of 20 itineraries including two-night mini cruises calling in Saint Peter Port in Guernsey to 12 nights exploring the Baltics or 14 nights exploring the Western Mediterranean.

MSC said, “high demand” for its summer 2022 sailings had led to the decision to bring Virtuosa back to UK shores. Passengers already booked on Magnifica will be automatically rebooked to the nearest like-for-like Virtuosa sailing.

Agents with booked guests and direct customers will be contacted with all information pertaining to the change.

MSC’s the UK and Ireland managing director Antonio Paradiso said the line “couldn’t turn down the opportunity” to bring Virtuosa back to Southampton after the success of its 2021 summer season.

“The feedback from passengers has been that they loved MSC Virtuosa and are eager to get back on board and explore more of the world on this fabulous ship,” Paradiso said.

“Despite the challenges of 2021 we had a record-breaking year with passengers sailing from Southampton, and it was great to see so many new-to-cruise guests amongst them.

“We have listened to the feedback from consumers and travel agents and have delivered itineraries with more choice, new destinations and longer cruises to warmer climates – all departing from Southampton.”

MSC added that current booking trends also meant it would base a ship in Southampton year-round in 2022 with the vessel due to be announced later this year.

The ship will sail similar northern Europe itineraries in 2022-2023 to those currently being offered by Magnifica.

Paradiso added: “Five years ago we announced our intention to grow our business in the UK market and I am pleased to say that this announcement is further evidence of our commitment to this target.

“We have made a series of investments, from increasing the number of sailings from UK ports visiting new and exciting destinations, to supporting the building of the new Horizon Cruise Terminal in Southampton, that all help us achieve our goal to give UK guests the holidays they want, and travel agents the cruises they want to sell.”

The news comes as MSC confirms its full fleet of 19 ships will be sailing by summer 2022, with its requirement for all guests to be vaccinated remaining in place.

MSC said it would continue to implement “the appropriate measures” to ensure guests can “enjoy one of the safest holidays options out there”.

MSC Cruises To Test Fuel Cells on World Europa

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MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique announced today that the first of MSC’s next-generation ships, the World Europa, will have two 75 kW solid oxide fuel cells onboard running on natural gas. The gas will come from the LNG that will fuel the ship’s main engines.

Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises, said in conjunction with the announcement that LNG will not only reduce the emissions of the new ship, but once green LNG becomes available on the scale, the ship will be able to operate at zero emissions.

For this reason, he said, he is encouraging producers, regulators and other stakeholders to accelerate its development and that of its supply chain.

In addition, he said that MSC is also studying other fuel technologies, such as hydrogen that could potentially be compatible with LNG engines.

Fuel cells offer another pathway and the two 75 kW units installed on the World Europa will serve as a test project in a real operational environment.

Today also served as the coin ceremony for another MSC ship, the Euribia, and to recognize the contributions of Valentina Mancini, corporate brand manager for MSC Cruises in Geneva, and from Chantiers, Anna Claire Juventin, who heads up the yard’s quality control, as godmother.