MSC Cruises Order Two 154,000 gt Cruise Ships

MSC Cruises informs it has signed a contract with Fincantieri for the construction of two new cruise ships with an option for one more. The two ships will join MSC Cruises' 12 strong cruise ship fleet.

The contract was signed at the Palazzo Chigi in Rome between MSC Cruises and Fincantieri in the presence of MSC Cruises Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago and CEO Gianni Onorato, and Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono.

The new prototype will be named "Seaside" and will be the largest cruise ship ever built by Fincantieri. Its innovative features will make it unique, say MSC, in the shipbuilding industry. The two ships will lead the way for a new generation of cruise ships that will be completely different from an architectural point of view.

The two new ships will cost €700 million each, and will be funded with the support of the insurance and financial company SACE. They will be delivered to MSC Cruises, owned by Gianluigi Aponte, at different times: the first in November 2017, the second in May 2018.

With a length of 1060 feet, a breadth of 135 feet and a height of 230 feet, the new ships will have a gross tonnage of 154,000 tons and will accommodate up to 5,300 passengers plus 1,413 crew members. The ships will have 2,070 guest cabins, 759 for crew members, and 468,230 square feet of public areas.

"From the moment we started talking with Fincantieri, we had in mind to design and build two completely new ships, revolutionary in their structure, unlike anything that exists on the market today," said Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of MSC Cruises.

"Today, MSC Cruises adds the last piece to its new industrial plan that will allow us to double the capacity of our fleet by 2022. With the arrival of the new ships we will reach a capacity of about 80,000 passengers a day," said Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC Cruises. "As of today we have launched an investment plan of over €5 billion that includes new builds, ordered in Italy and France, and the conversion of four ships already in the fleet."

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