MSC Group’s Cruise Division and Chantiers de l’Atlantique celebrated two significant new build milestones for the line’s next generation of environmentally advanced ships.
MSC World Europa and MSC Euribia will join the MSC Cruises fleet as the first LNG-powered vessels next year, signifying a €3 billion investment in LNG ships, with building on World Europa II set to begin in early 2023.
These ships contribute significantly to the Company’s goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. LNG is by far the cleanest maritime fuel currently accessible at scale, essentially eliminating local air pollutant emissions such as sulphur oxides (99 percent), nitrogen oxides (85 percent), and particulate matter (particles) (98 percent ). In terms of global emissions, LNG is critical for climate change mitigation, and the engines aboard these two ships have the potential to cut CO2 emissions by up to 25% compared to conventional fuels. Additionally, as Bio and Synthetic LNG become available, this energy source will give a path toward decarbonized operations.
Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises, said: “Today is another important milestone in our journey towards net zero emissions by 2050 for our marine operations. Following billions of euros of investment, we are announcing significant construction developments in not just one but two of our next generation LNG-powered vessels bringing us ever closer to our vision of an emissions free cruise industry. As the cleanest fuel currently available at scale for our operations, LNG is at the vanguard of the momentous energy transition we must go through.”
“We have a lot more to do but I am pleased that despite all that we have faced from the pandemic over the last two years, we have still been able to achieve with our partners at Chantiers de L’Atlantique the launch of these new LNG vessels – the first ever made in France that will also introduce potential new fuel cell technologies to make them even more efficient. We now need to take even bigger steps and we will need the continued support of our suppliers, partners and Governments to achieve this. We all need to work together to achieve our green future.”
Laurent Castaing, General Manager, Chantiers de l’Atlantique, added: “It is indeed a very special moment we are living today. This is not only because these ships are respectively the 15 th and the 16th we are building for MSC Cruises- which shows the outstanding quality of the relationship we established between our two companies since the 90’s. This is not only because they will rank among the largest and the finest of the world’s cruise market. But it is also and especially because they represent a giant step towards what the cruise ships of the future will look like. At their delivery, they will have the best carbon footprint of the market, in terms of emissions per passenger and per day”
