Ferry Launched at Fincantieri

On February 16, the cruise ferry Cruise Barcelona, built for the Grimaldi Group, was launched at the Fincantieri shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples. Godmother of the vessel will be Mrs Cristina Grimaldi, wife of the Group co-managing director, Dr. Gianluca Grimaldi.

The Cruise Barcelona, which is expected to be delivered in September, is the second of four cruise ferries ordered by the Grimaldi Group to Fincantieri for the strengthening of its maritime services in the Mediterranean. With a maximum speed of 28 knots, a total loading capacity of 3,000 linear metres of rolling cargo, 215 cars and about 2,300 passengers, the “Cruise Barcelona”, along with her sistership “Cruise Roma”, will be the fastest and most modern cruise of her type in the Mediterranean. The Cruise Barcelona features 19 suites, 50 junior suites and 400 standard cabins, an à la carte restaurant, a self service restaurant, a casino, a games room, an internet café, a boutique, a supermarket, a swimming pool, a gymnasium, a sauna, a solarium, a children’s playroom, a disco, etc. The Cruise Barcelona, along with its sistership Cruise Roma expected to enter into service next month, will be deployed on the daily Civitavecchia-Barcelona link.

It has been estimated that, through the deployment of the two cruise ferries, the Group will shift over 70,000 trucks and trailers every year from the congested roads to the “motorways of the sea”, with important social and environmental benefits for the community. The purchase of the Cruise Barcelona is to be considered within a wider and more ambitious strategy that will bring the Group’s volume of investment to about Euro 2.5 billion for the construction of 32 vessels in Croatia, Korea and China by 2011. By that year, the Grimaldi fleet will consist of about 140 RoRo multipurpose, car carrier, Ropax and cruise ferry vessels.