By
Rebecca Gibson |
Fincantieri has held a keel laying ceremony for MSC Cruises’ MSC Seaview at its yard in Monfalcone, Italy.
Tradition dictates that two long-standing employees representing the shipyard and the shipowner act as godmothers for the ceremony, placing two coins under the new ship’s keel block as a sign of blessing and good fortune. They included Fincantieri’s Michela Bullo and MSC Cruises’ Loredana Giammusso.
MSC Seaview, which is the second of MSC Cruises’ 154,000gt Seaside Class vessels, will accommodate 5,179 guests and debut in June 2018. She will sail the Western Mediterranean in her inaugural summer season, before repositioning to Brazil in November 2018.
“MSC Seaview is one of the four MSC Cruises’ ships currently under construction, as part of an industry-unprecedented ten-year, €9 billion investment plan that underpins the next phase of our global growth as the world’s largest privately-owned cruise line,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ executive chairman commented. “She will also be a reflection of our unique and ongoing commitment to each time bringing to market the most innovatively conceived cruise ships, as the Seaside generation of MSC Cruises ships – of which MSC Seaview is part – introduces yet another game-changing prototype.”
MSC Seaview is the third next-generation mega cruise ship that will come into service under MSC Cruises’ ten-year investment plan through 2026. Her sister ship MSC Seaside is set to be delivered by Fincantieri later this year and enter service in December 2017 and homeport in Miami, US.
“The MSC Seaview order, as the one for her sister ship MSC Seaside, which was floated out in November 2016, is one of those which has allowed the crucial relaunch of the cruise market,” said Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri. “Our group has shown to fully match this important opportunity, which has helped to make Fincantieri the acknowledged leader in this industry, both in terms of volume and product diversification. We are confident that this success bodes well for our partnership with our MSC friends.”