MSC Cruises to homeport two ships in South Africa in the 2021-2022 season

MSC Cruises is to homeport two ships in South Africa in the 2021-2022 season as part of its commitment to boosting tourism in the region.

Following extended ‘Grand Voyages’ from Venice in Italy, Musica-class vessel MSC Musica will arrive in Durban on November 2020 and Lirica-class ship MSC Opera will begin homeporting in Cape Town from 5 December. Collectively, the ships will offer more than 60 cruises and serve alternate routes.

“The deployment for the first time of two classes of MSC Cruises ship to South Africa for the local 2020-2021 cruise season will allow us to meet more fully the growth in demand we have experienced over the past few years,” said Ross Volk, managing director for MSC Cruises South Africa. “As such, it is also as a further sign of MSC Cruises’ long-standing commitment to this key market and its tourism.”

MSC Cruises’ new deployments will help it to grow cruise tourism in Africa. In addition to developing infrastructure in Mozambique and collaborating with the Namibian government, MSC Cruises has also joined the KwaZulu Cruise Terminal Consortium, which is building a new cruise terminal in Durban.

“This multi-user terminal will make Durban an even more desirable destination for cruise ships from all over the world,” said Volk. “It will substantially boost tourism numbers as well as help creating local jobs and lead to local supplier development. The construction of this state-of-the-art terminal is an exciting project that MSC Cruises is proud to be a part of. All the partners in the initiative will shortly sign off the final design of the terminal and ground-breaking is scheduled for later this year. The new port is currently expected to be operational by January 2021.”