Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2021

3 9 12 months, the brand has also continued to invest in the long-term, sustainable growth of its business. “Two new ships joined our fleet this year – MSC Virtuosa in February and MSC Seashore in July – both of which are significant achievements given a backdrop of an evolving pandemic that forced so many other lines to put ships up for sale and, sadly, sail vessels for one final journey to the scrapyard,” says Onorato. MSC Cruises also strengthened partnerships with ports and destinations worldwide. “We are very proud of our recently announced long-term commitment to operate Red Sea cruises from the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, a new area that has great potential both as a destination and a future source market because the Kingdom is putting great emphasis and resources in developing its overall tourism infrastructure,” says Onorato. “We also announced further investments in ports all around the world with developments of new cruise terminals in Miami – which is bound to become a landmark in the world’s ‘capital of cruising’ – as well as in Barcelona, Spain, and Ancona, Italy. Plus, later this year we will open a new facility in Durban, South Africa. We also signed a joint venture with the Palumbo Group to operate the Palumbo Malta shipyard.” In June, MSC Cruises expanded its business by launching a new luxury cruise brand named Explora Journeys and starting construction of the first two of its four ships at Fincantieri’s yard in Monfalcone, Italy. The first vessel, EXPLORA I, will sail her maiden season in 2023 (read more in CFR ’s interview with Explora Journeys CEO Michael Ungerer on page 40). This September, the brand also progressed its decarbonisation journey, pledging to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Already well on track to hit the cruise industry’s target of reducing carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2030, MSC Cruises joined the ‘Getting to Zero Coalition’ to accelerate the decarbonisation of the global shipping sector. It is also helping the CHEK Consortium explore how to design innovative ships with progressive energy technologies to attain low-carbon shipping. MSC Cruises continued working with French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique to build three LNG-powered cruise ships equipped with pioneering new solid oxide fuel cell technology, which will potentially reduce GHGs by a further 25 per cent compared to a conventional LNG engine. The first vessel, MSC World Europa, will be delivered in October 2022, followed by MSC Euribia in 2023 and a third vessel later. It has also partnered with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and energy infrastructure company Snam to develop the world’s first ocean-going, hydrogen- powered, zero-emission cruise ship and related supply chain. “In spite of the pandemic ashore, we have laid down many new markers for the future over the past 12 months,” says Onorato. “And our proposed growth must be done – and will be done – in a carefully managed approach towards the protection of the environment in which our fleet of ships operates – an essential component of the DNA we inherited on day one of the business thanks to our maritime heritage. These bold strides are all crucial for the decarbonisation of cruising and shipping.” Onorato attributes the cruise line’s recent success to his employees. “Our achievements over the past 12 months would not have been possible without the dedication of our employees – both onboard and ashore – and the support of their families and loved ones,” he says. “Their commitment, spirit, endeavour and loyalty, I believe, is what sets us apart. “And I have to also praise and thank the incredibly hard-working travel trade. It has been a very difficult time for them, and we could not be in the position we are today without their boundless and professional enthusiasm to be very willing and able partners.” CFR MSC Grandiosa embarked on a cruise from Barcelona in June 2021, becoming the first ship to sail an international cruise from Spain since the pandemic