Early Thursday morning, October 31, a major milestone event took place at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire with the traditional cutting of the first steel and naming of the first World Class vessel, MSC Europa, by the Executive Chairman of MSC Cruises, Pierfrancesco Vago.
MSC Europa is the first of 5 liquified natural gas-fueled (LNG-powered) cruise liners on order and the first LNG vessel to be built in France. The two events mark another important step forward in the cruise line's long-term commitment to environmental stewardship both at sea and ashore.
Carrying up to 6761 guests, the 250,000 GT ship will become the largest in the world (by passenger capacity) when she debuts in 2022.
In conjunction with the cutting of the first steel ceremony of Europa, MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique also unveiled a ground-breaking R&D project called PACBOAT. It focuses on the integration of a new fuel cell technology demonstrator on the LNG-powered MSC ship. This demonstrator is due to produce electricity and heat using LNG. A consortium agreement was signed between the various partners involved.