STX Europe, MSC Cruise LOI for Newbuild

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. For the shipyard, it represents two years of work for 1,000 of 2,300 employees. Final confirmation of the order remains subject to finalization of financing arrangements and Board approval.