Fantasia News

This year’s cruise shipping season ended in Kiel on Saturday (October 8th) with a call by the “AIDAvita”. Overall, the port of Kiel was visited 147 times this year by 26 different cruise ships of more than 9.3 million GT, compared to 133 cruise ship visits in 2015. That was an increase in tonnage of 8.1 % over last year. More than 485,000 passengers boarded or disembarked at the port’s various terminals – 5.8 % more than in 2015. Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the PORT OF KIEL (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG) said: “We can look back on Kiel’s best cruise shipping season to date.

A total of 668,277 passenger movements were recorded on 306 cruise vessels calling Valletta in 2015, equating to an increase of 150,683 passengers, or a 29.1 percent increase on the previous year. The year’s record figures surpassed the port’s previous best of 608,786 passenger movements set in 2012. As per NSO statistics, which exclude embarking passengers, the 2015 landed passengers amounted to 600,156, up sharply from 471,554 in 2014. This also exceeds the previous record of 562,812 from 2012, by about 6 percent.

MSC Cruises recently added a new state-of-the-art liner, the MSC Preziosa, helping the Italian company, truly a family business, attain the status of third largest cruise line in the world. MSC Preziosa is a Fantasia class cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises. It entered service in March 2013 as an enhanced version of its sister ships, MSC Splendida and MSC Fantasia, and is identical to MSC Divina, which was launched in 2012. Built at the STX shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, MSC Preziosa is the new flagship of MSC Cruises. The new ship gained immediate recognition famous courtesy of its christening by actress Sophia Loren, and was significant as it signified that MSC Cruises is now the third largest cruise line in the world.

Once again, the latest flagship in the MSC fleet is set to become a green paragon in the industry, with leading international classification society Bureau Veritas officially conferring the “7 Golden Pearls” award to MSC Preziosa, the company’s 4th Fantasia class ship. The “7 Golden Pearls” is one of highest awards for cruise vessels in recognition of the specific voluntary attention paid, from design and building to operation, to “Quality Health Safety Environment” (QHSE). The integrated sections that make up the award are: Classification notation “CLEANSHIP 2”, for the three domains of potential air, water and waste pollution. It targets…

'MSC Preziosa' successfully completes sea trials with its GE Power Conversion electrical power & propulsion system. Built from the STX yard in Saint-Nazaire, France, MSC Preziosa is the latest ship in MSC’s Fantasia-class and the 12th in the MSC fleet. The vessel has recently completed a series of sea trials including propulsion and maneuverability (speed ranges, full speed, crash stop, power plant and propulsion interactions, full/partial propulsion configurations) as well as noise and vibration measurements.

At the STX shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, two commemorative coins are welded to 'MSC Preziosa’s' mast radar, to mark a construction milestone. Earlier this year, following the termination of the agreement with the original owner, MSC Cruises signed a contract to take over the 140,000-ton cruise ship. Renamed MSC Preziosa, she will be the 13th addition to the MSC Cruises’ fleet, as well as the fourth ship in the series of Fantasia class ships. MSC Preziosa is 1,092 feet long, 124 feet wide, and weighs 140,000 gt and the 4,345-guest luxury cruise ship will have a speed of 23 knots.

Rapid expansion of cruise ship owners MSC comes with the announcement that they have finalized negotiations with STX France and signed a contract to take over the 140,000 ton cruise ship following the termination of the agreement with the original owner. MSC Preziosa will become the 13th addition to the MSC Cruises’ fleet, as well as the fourth in its MSC 'Fantasia' class which includes MSC Fantasia, MSC Splendida and MSC Divina.The latest ship is in fact the sister ship of MSC Divina, which is currently having final touches applied in the STX ship yard in St Nazaire, France. “The new ship represents an investment of 550 million euros and will be delivered at the end of March 2013.

Hamworthy Serck Como has secured a new order for its Multi Stage Flash (MSF) Evaporators, the technology regularly specified by leading cruise ship owners as the means of producing fresh water from seawater to meet World Health Organization (WHO) potable water standards. MSC Cruises has selected the Hamworthy MSF Evaporator for installation on board its latest 133,500 gt newbuild, which is due to be built at STX France in St Nazaire. With a capacity for 3,274 passengers plus 1,600 crew, the ship will be a sister to Fantasia, Splendida, and the recently ordered Fantastica, the largest cruise vessels ever built for a European owner. She will become the 12th MSC Cruises vessel for which Hamworthy’s MSF Evaporator has been selected. The contract will see equipment delivered in June 2011.

STX France has recently experienced cost overruns mainly related to one of its cruise vessels under construction at its St Nazaire shipyard. The cost overrun could represent a negative deviation up to $20.3m – 27.1m, but every possible effort is being made to limit such cost overrun. The physical construction of the vessel is however in good progress, and the vessel is expected to be delivered on-time and to the client's full satisfaction. STX France has a solid working capital position, and the funding of such cost overrun will be managed from the existing working capital in STX France. As a consequence of the cost overruns, STX Europe has agreed with Nordea Bank to adjust the interest coverage ratio covenant (EBITDA/Interest) to reflect such a lower expected EBITDA in 2010.

STX Europe’s subsidiary, STX France SA and MSC Cruise has signed a letter of intent for the construction of a new large cruise ship at its St. Nazaire shipyard in France to be delivered in mid - 2012. The new cruise ship will be a sister ship of MSC Fantasia and MSC Splendida, which were delivered from STX France's St. Nazaire shipyard in December 2008 and July 2009, respectively. The new vessel will be the 9th cruise ship built in St. Nazaire for MSC Cruises. The new cruise ship will have a length of 1,082.6 ft and a size of about 140,000 GT. The vessel will have 1,751 cabins, which is 100 more cabins than her two sister vessels. The new order will generate about 5,000,000 hours of work for the industrial area of St. Nazaire - mostly at STX France SA and its sub-suppliers and partners.

MSC Splendida and MSC Fantasia, the newest ships in MSC Cruises’ fleet, met July 9 in Mallorca, Spain, as MSC Splendida sailed to her christening in Barcelona on July 12. This was the first meeting between the two 137,936-gross registered ton sister ships, the largest ever commissioned by a European owner, since late last year when MSC Fantasia sailed from the STX Europe shipyard in Saint Nazaire, France, where both were built. MSC Fantasia, calling in Mallorca during her regular seven night summer Mediterranean cruise itinerary…

A ceremony held on board MSC Fantasia on April 2 at the port of Palma de Mallorca (Spain) officially recognized the bravery of four crew members who rushed to the aid of an overboard passenger. The ceremony, involving the port authorities, the island’s council and MSC Cruises’ CEO, took place on the MSC Fantasia. On March 5, while the new ship was moored at the port and passengers were disembarking, three mooring bitts become detached simultaneously in strong winds, resulting in the ship moving away from the dock and causing a disembarking guest to fall into the water. The four crew members immediately jumped in to help the man, who was rapidly brought to shore and taken to a local hospital.

Aker Yards has signed a contract with MSC Cruises to build a 4th MSC Musica Class Cruise ship. The MSC Magnifica will be built at Aker Yards, Saint-Nazaire and delivered in 2010. The value of the contract is approximately $546.8m (EUR 410 million.) The contract is subject to financing. Like its three predecessors (MSC Musica, MSC Orchestra and MSC Poesia, this 89,600 GT cruise ship is 294 metres long and just over 32 metres wide, and complies with the Panama Canal Standard. MSC Magnifica will carry up to 4,000 people on board (including crew) and have 1275 passenger cabins, 80% of which being outside. Aker Yards is presently completing the construction of MSC Orchestra, which will be delivered in May.

MSC Cruises announced its plans to expand its seven-ship fleet by adding a new vessel every year through 2009, and to kick off its "Beautiful. Passionate. Italian." campaign featuring actress Sophia Loren. Loren will appear in a $4 million campaign, starting off this month on print, billboards, subway signage and taxi toppers in south Florida and New York. Loren already is the godmother of the MSC Lirica, which will be home-ported in New York by 2007, and will christen the 2,550-passenger MSC Musica in Venice, Italy, during June. That ship is one of two new arrivals this year; MSC Orchestra is the other. The cruise line also will take delivery of the MSC Fantasia and MSC Serenata, which can accommodate 3,300 passengers each, during 2008 and 2009, respectively.

MSC Cruises has signed a contract ordering one ship and taking out an option for another. The confirmed buy is the fifth ship order for the line. The cruise line, which has its North American headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, said its contract with Chantiers de l'Atlantique is for a Panamax ship. The new ship is to be delivered in March 2008. MSC Cruises already had contracts with Chantiers de l'Atlantique to build two Panamax and two post-Panamax vessels. Post-Panamax ships are too large to fit through the canal. The latest addition and option are for vessels in the same class as the 89,600-ton MSC Musica, due for its inaugural sailing July 1. MSC Orchestra, the second Panamax ship, is scheduled to join the fleet in 2007.