MSC Cruises announces two new ships

At a press conference today in Milan, Italy, Pierfrancesco Vago, CEO of MSC Cruises announced a further expansion of the MSC Cruises fleet with the order of two new ships from the Aker Yards France in St Nazaire.

Mr Vago was accompanied by Domenico Pellegrino, General Manager of MSC Cruises and Jacques Hardelay, General Manager of Aker Yards France.

Named MSC Meraviglia and MSC Favolosa, the new ships are due for delivery in 2011 and 2012 respectively. They will be the fifth and sixth sister ships in the Musica class, with 93,000 tons of gross tonnage, 1,275 cabins and a maximum occupancy of 3,013 passengers each.

Speaking at the press conference, Mr Vago stated: “I can say with pride that MSC Cruises has the most modern fleet in the world.

“The arrival of MSC Meraviglia and MSC Favolosa carries us forward to 2012, when we will be able to accommodate more than 1.4 million guests on board, to whom we can offer a product that has been designed, engineered and presented as only MSC Cruises knows how. We now play a key role in the global market, successfully acting as an ambassador for Italian style worldwide”.

The arrival of MSC Meraviglia and MSC Favolosa will bring the MSC Cruises fleet to a total of 14 ships, completing the company’s development plan and achieving a number of records:

- the most modern fleet in the world - most of the ships are less than five years old
- an investment of 5.5 billion Euros between 2003 and 2009 for the construction of 10 new generation units, subdivided into three classes: Lirica class (60,000 tons), Musica class (93,000 tons), Fantasia class (133,500 tons)
- the largest cruise company with entirely European capital
- two super-flagships MSC Fantasia and MSC Splendida – at 133.500 tons they will be the largest ships ever built for a European shipping company
- the first company to receive the ‘Six Golden Pearls’ from the Bureau Veritas in recognition of its high level of quality management and environmental protection.

Mr Pellegrino said: “The new orders are the result of a careful evaluation of trends in the cruise industry in recent years. Over the first months of 2008, the cruise market grew by 13% and in the same period our company recorded an increase equal to 32% in terms of passengers.

“This result was also achieved thanks to the confidence the sales channel has been showing us year after year. Based on these figures, we foresee a rosy future for both the cruise sector and MSC Cruises”.

Construction will start on MSC Meraviglia and MSC Favolosa under the guidance of the Korean STX Shipbuilding at the Aker Yards France.

“The strong relationship which already exists between MSC Cruises and Aker Yards has been reinforced by this contract,” said Mr Hardelay. “We look forward to continuing our innovative co-operation with MSC Cruises in order to offer unique cruise experiences to its passengers. We are ready and willing to take up this new challenge.”