MSC Cruises Hosts Orders Three New Liners

MSC Cruises celebrated three events in one day on Sept. 9 at Aker Yards´ St Nazaire, France, shipyard: the floating out of the Orchestra, the cutting of the first steel for the Fantasia, and a viewing of the first panel laid for the construction of the Poesia.

MSC has three ships under construction with Aker Yards with the Orchestra scheduled for delivery in spring 2007 and the Poesia and Fantasia both slated to enter service in 2008. Construction on post-panamax, sister ship to the Fantasia, the Sereneta, is expected to begin in 2007.

With these additions, MSC´s fleet will grow to a dozen ships by 2009, and the line expects to host more than 1 million guests annually by 2010, MSC said.

The 90,000-ton Orchestra, sister ship to the Musica and Poesia, will be the second ship in the Musica class. Meanwhile, the 133,500-ton Serenata and Fantasia will be the largest ships commissioned by a European ship owner to date, MSC said, and will have a passenger capacity of 3,900 and 1,313 staff members.