MSC Cruises’ World Class ships will feature range of Wärtsilä solutions

Wärtsilä will supply a package of integrated solutions to support and enhance the efficiency and sustainability of two new World Class cruise vessels being built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique for MSC Cruises (Image copyright MSC Cruises)

The first two World Class cruise vessels being built for Geneva, Switzerland, based MSC Cruises by shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique will incorporate a package of Wärtsilä solutions designed to support and enhance their efficiency and environmental sustainability.

The World Class cruise ships will each feature 2,760 staterooms and a maximum occupancy of 6,850 guests, the highest passenger capacity in the global cruise fleet. They will have a length of 1,083 feet and a beam of 154 feet.

The first two vessels will be delivered in 2022 and 2024 – with options for two more ships in 2025 and 2026.

WÄRTSILÄ LNG SOLUTIONS

They will be the first two LNG-fueled cruise ships with Wärtsilä 46DF engines and with Wärtsilä LNGPac systems.

The full scope of Wärtsilä’s supply of fully integrated solutions includes, for each of the two vessels, five 14-cylinder Wärtsilä 46DF dual-fuel engines fitted with nitrogen oxide reduction (NOR) units, two Wärtsilä LNGPac fuel storage and supply systems, seven Wärtsilä thrusters, and two Wärtsilä fixed pitch propellers.

The Wärtsilä 46DF engines are IMO Tier III compliant in gas mode, and are compliant in marine diesel oil (MDO) mode in combination with the NOR units, an emission after-treatment solution based on Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology.

The Wärtsilä equipment is scheduled for delivery in mid-2020 for the first ship, and in mid-2022 for the second.

“The focus of our solutions is on reducing energy and fuel consumption in order to promote efficiency. At the same time, our nitrogen oxide reduction and LNG solutions enhance environmental sustainability, which together with the higher efficiency, is very much in line with Wärtsilä’s Smart Marine strategy,” says Stefan Nysjö, Vice President, Marine Power Solutions, Wärtsilä.

“We are very familiar with Wärtsilä’s products and they have always provided us with excellent support in newbuild projects. These two new cruise ships will represent the latest thinking in minimizing the environmental impact and reducing fuel consumption, which is in line with our Ecorizon plan, and Wärtsilä is playing a major role in this,” says Yves Pelpel, Technical Director, Chantiers de l’Atlantique.

The steel cutting ceremony for the first of the two vessels, the MSC Europa, was held at Chantiers de l’Atlantique in the end of October and it is scheduled to be launched in May 2022.