MSC Cruises has taken delivery of its new flagship, MSC Virtuosa.
A sister ship to current flagship MSC Grandiosa, Meraviglia-class Virtuosa will be the 18th ship in the MSC Cruises fleet.
It will feature a 91.8-metre LED sky dome and a 101-metre-long promenade like those on other Meraviglia-class vessels, as well as “the world’s first humanoid bartender at sea”.
Virtuosa will debut on April 16 as it begins its summer season, sailing four cruises in the Mediterranean of three, four and 10-nights before repositioning to new homeport Kiel, where she will commence Northern Europe itineraries from May 8.
It is the first of two MSC Cruises ships to launch in 2021, with MSC Seashore expected to join the fleet in August. The line plans a further four new ships by 2025.
The line held a “small and private” flag ceremony for Virtuosa at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France on Monday February 1, attended by executive chairman Pierfrancesco Vago, his family and representatives from MSC Cruises’ new builds team.
Vago said: “The delivery of MSC Virtuosa at such a challenging time for our industry symbolises how as a family company we continue to look at the longer term and build our future.”
“We remain committed to building each time some of the most innovative ships in the world when it comes to their environmental performance featuring nothing but the most advanced available technology at sea.”
Laurent Castaing, general manager at Chantiers de l’Atlantique, added: “I am proud of what our teams have accomplished together, despite a difficult sanitary context. With the construction of MSC Virtuosa, we have reached a level of finish and performance that will give future MSC Virtuosa guests the best that cruising has to offer. The sixteenth ship that the Chantiers de l’Atlantique has built for MSC Cruises is therefore an example that will be difficult to overtake!”
Virtuosa has a hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS); selective catalytic reduction systems (SCR); wastewater treatment systems; shore-to-ship power connectivity; and an underwater radiated noise management system. MSC said it would be the first cruise ship in the world to receive a BIORISK notation from Bureau Veritas in recognition of her ability to mitigate and manage infectious disease risk for passengers.
Vago added: “Our long-term goal is to achieve a zero-impact cruise operation and this is the journey we are on today. MSC Virtuosa represents another important step in this direction together with our other investments in the accelerated development of next-generation environmental technology. It also confirms our long-term firm commitment to achieving this ambitious goal.”