By
Michele Witthaus |
With the MSC Divina nearing completion at the STX France shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, and the newly purchased MSC Preziosa in the early stages of outfitting at the same yard, a director for MSC Cruises expressed satisfaction with progress on both ships in a visit to the yard on 2 April.
MSC’s director general for France, Belgium and Luxembourg, Erminio Eschena, who was recently appointed a regional spokesperson for the Cruise Lines International Association, told ICFR that his company was very happy with its recent purchase of the Preziosa, which cost in excess of €500 million. “It fits well in our fleet and has enabled us to have a fourth ship of the Fantasia class earlier than planned,” he said. The fact that the ship was already being built by STX at the time MSC bought it allowed for trust in the quality of work that had already been done, he added.
Although much has been made in the media of the unusual origins of the Preziosa, which was being built as a private cruise ship for Colonel Gaddafi’s son Hannibal before the fall of the Libyan regime, Eschena said that MSC had taken charge of the vessel early enough to be able to adapt it to the Fantasia style in every respect. The design of the Preziosa, scheduled for delivery in March 2013, is based on the same plans as the Divina, which is docked just metres away from it.
In a first for Saint-Nazaire, following the Divina’s christening in Marseilles on 19 May, she will return to the shipyard, where guests will be able to join her maiden voyage at the end of that month. Eschena explained: “A lot of people from the region have been involved with the ship and to have a real cruise leaving from Saint-Nazaire will be a kind of beautiful homage to them and to the yard.”
Of MSC’s 13 ships, 12 have been built at Saint-Nazaire. Asked what motivates MSC to keep coming back to the French yard, Eschena replied: “It is their ‘savoir faire unique’. We like the fact that STX is a family business, like MSC – and we are proud of the ships’ French construction.”