GENEVA — MSC Cruises today confirmed the order of two liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered vessels with French ship builder Chantiers de l’Atlantique.
This sees the two World Class options confirmed as firm orders with an option for a fifth ship.
The two new ordered vessels – currently referred to as World Class 3 and 4 – will be delivered in 2026 and 2027.
MSC World Europa and MSC World America are already the most energy efficient ships in the industry performing significantly better than the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) requirement, and the new ships will be an evolution of the state-of-the-art World Class prototype with innovative solutions to maximize the energy efficiency, with extensive use of heat recovery and other technological solutions, which will see the vessels having an even further reduced carbon footprint.
In addition, the new ships will be ready for a variety of alternative fuels including bio and synthetic methane and green methanol. The ships will also be fitted with the next generation dual fuel internal combustion engines with reduced methane slip.
Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises, said: “We are proud to continue our 20-year partnership with the Chantiers de l’Atlantique, with whom we have already built 18 ships with our 19th under construction. The World Class is a truly innovative prototype and together we are building some of the most advanced ships in the world. We are committed to researching and investing in future environmental technologies as they become available, to ensure we continue progressing on our decarbonization journey to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”
The new World Class vessels will feature shore power plug-in connectivity to reduce carbon emissions in port, the most advanced wastewater treatment systems designed in line with the IMO, new advances in waste management, and a comprehensive range of onboard energy efficient equipment to optimize engine use and hotel energy needs to further reduce emissions.
The two new orders will be subject to access to financing, as per industry practice.
