MSC marks construction milestone for Europa

MSC Cruies has held a coin ceremony for its first LNG powered ship, MSC World Europa.

The ceremony, which was held at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, is held when the keel of a vessel is laid, a construction milestone.

The 200,000-plus GT ship is scheduled to enter service in 2022.

Zoe Africa Vago, daughter of Alexa Aponte-Vago and her husband Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman, and Aurore Bezard from the HR Department of Chantiers de I’Atlantique performed the ritual as godmothers representing the ship owner and the shipbuilder.

Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises, said: “MSC World Europa is further proof of our commitment to environmental stewardship as she is set to reduce carbon emissions even further than many other existing cruise ships powered by LNG, which is currently the most environmentally-friendly fuel for commercial maritime operations. With this vessel, we also reconfirm our belief in investing in advanced environmental technology to meet our long-term goal of zero emissions from operations.”

Laurent Castaing, general manager, Chantiers de l’Atlantique, added: “We are proud to start the building of a ship which will set the standards for the cruise of the future. This is a major milestone in the history of our 20-year cooperation with MSC Cruises, which has already resulted in some of the most innovative cruise ships ever built.”

MSC World Europa will feature a new 50-kilowatt demonstrator system that incorporates solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology, which will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by about 30 per cent compared with a conventional LNG engine. There are no emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides or fine particles, the company added.