MSC Cruises Announces Two New Ship Classes

MSC Cruises has announced the signing of firm contracts for the construction of the line’s third and fourth LNG-powered MSC World Class ships. They’ve also announced two new ship classes that will be built in partnership with the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. 

The two additional LNG-powered World Class ships are scheduled to be delivered in 2025 and 2027. The first of the two previously-announced ships, MSC Europa, is currently under construction at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard and is scheduled to debut in 2022. It will become the largest vessel operated by a European cruise line at 205,000 gross tons, as well as the first LNG-powered cruise ship built in France. Compared to standard marine fuel, LNG decreases sulphur emissions and particulate matter by 99 percent, NOx emissions by 85 percent, and CO2 emissions by 20 percent. 

The contracts for these ships represents a capital investment by MSC exceeding 2 billion euros, and are expected to generate 14 million additional working hours, amounting to over 2,400 full-time equivalent jobs for the next 3.5 years. 

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MSC also announced the extension of their partnership with Chantiers de l’Atlantique over the next decade with two additional projects. First, the companies signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of a new prototype class of LNG-powered ships for MSC Cruises. For this project, the line, the shipyard, and other partners will focus on developing emerging environmental technologies. The four vessels in the new class will represent a capital investment exceeding 4 billion euros. 

A second memorandum of understanding with Chantiers de l’Atlantique has also been made to develop another prototype ship class concept, where they will explore opportunities that wind power and other advanced technologies could bring. 

The three agreements signed today represent an investment of over 6.5 billion euros in the French economy.