MSC Cruises confirmed orders today for two liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered vessels with French ship builder Chantiers de l’Atlantique. This sees the company’s options for two World Class vessels converted to firm orders, along with an option for a fifth ship.

The two new 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. The newly ordered ships will be an evolution of the state-of-the-art World Class prototype with innovative solutions to maximize energy efficiency, including extensive use of heat recovery and other technological solutions, which will further reduce their carbon footprint. The new ships will also be ready for a variety of alternative fuels like bio and synthetic methane, and green methanol, and will 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 19 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.”

Laurent Castaing, General Manager, Chantiers de l’Atlantique added, “At a difficult time for the European shipbuilding industry, MSC Cruises has shown its confidence in our abilities and skills with this order. We would therefore like to express our gratitude to MSC Cruises for its renewed confidence at this crucial time. In addition, MSC Cruises, always seeking to reduce the environmental impact of its ships quickly and significantly, has accepted a significant cost premium to improve the energy efficiency of these new ships which, according to the IMO's EEDI index, will emit 50% less CO2 than the IMO's 2008 benchmark.”

Castaing continued, “We would also like to thank our government, whose support for our R&D policy to make our ships greener has enabled us to meet the customer's expectations for this order.”

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.

Source: MSC Cruises