MSC Cruises orders two more World Class cruise ships

Two new MSC World Class cruise ships will be even-greener sisters to MSC World Europa and MSC World America. [Photo: MSC Cruises]

Geneva, Switzerland, based MSC Cruises has confirmed the orders for two new LNG-fueled World Class cruise ships at Chantiers de l’Atlantique. With the first ship in the 1,094 feet, 6,762 passenger series, MSC World Europa, now in service and the second, MSC World America, set to deliver next year, this leaves an option for a fifth ship to be confirmed.

The two newly ordered vessels – currently referred to as World Class 3 and 4 – will be delivered in 2026 and 2027.

MSC says that the first two World Class ships already have an energy efficiency significantly better than the IMO EEXI requirements and that the new ships will be an evolution of those vessels with technology that includes the extensive use of heat recovery. In addition, they will be ready for a variety of alternative fuels including bio and synthetic LNG and green methanol.

They will also be fitted with the next generation dual fuel internal combustion engines with reduced methane slip.

All this greenness comes at a cost.

“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,” said Chantiers de l’Atlantique general manager Laurent Castaing, as he thanked MSC Cruises for its renewed confidence at a crucial time.

“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,” he added.

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, advanced wastewater treatment systems, new advances in waste management, and a comprehensive range of onboard energy efficient equipment to optimize engine use and hotel energy load to further reduce emissions.