MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique have celebrated the float out of MSC World Europa, and the coin ceremony for MSC Euribia, both of which will be the first LNG-powered ships in the MSC fleet.

MSC World Europa will be the largest cruise ship ever operated by MSC Cruises when she is delivered, while MSC Euribia is the third and final ship in the Meraviglia-Plus class.

MSC World Europa has now been floated out of her dry dock

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The float out of a new ship is one of the last milestones in her construction, to be followed only by sea trials and the delivery ceremony, while the coin ceremony is held early on in the process and marks the keel laying.

Both ships are due for delivery next year, while a sister ship to World Europa, MSC World Europa II, is due to begin construction in early 2023.

“Today is another important milestone in our journey towards net zero emissions by 2050 for our marine operations,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises.

MSC World Europa is the largest ship ever built for the cruise line.

“Following billions of euros of investment, we are announcing significant construction developments in not just one but two of our next generation LNG-powered vessels bringing us ever closer to our vision of an emissions free cruise industry,” he added.

While Carnival Corporation’s LNG-powered Excellence-class cruise ships are being built by Meyer Werft in Germany, MSC World Europa and MSC Euribia are the first such ships to be built by a French shipyard, and are the 15th and 16th MSC cruise ships built by the shipyard overall.

MSC Euribia will be a sister ship to Virtuosa (pictured).

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Anne Claire Juventin responsible for Quality Control from Chantiers de l’Atlantique, and Valentina Mancini, Brand Manager for MSC Cruises, performed the traditional maritime ritual as godmothers representing the ship owner and the shipbuilder when they placed two coins under the keel of MSC Euribia.

The historic tradition is a sign of blessing and good fortune for the project, and the ship’s operational life at sea, and has been performed by European ship builders since the Roman ages.

The coins were attached to a ship to provide “divine protection” and on modern ships they are placed within the keel, and on the radar mast, which stands in the mast-stepping ceremony that would take place in the age of sailing ships.

The float out of MSC World Europa, meanwhile, took place at the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire where she will now be moved to a wet dock for final fit and finish ahead of her delivery in November, 2022.

MSC World Europa, will homeport in Dubai for the winter 2022/23 cruise season, sailing roundtrip in the Arabian Gulf. She will be the largest cruise ship ever to do so, and will be the second-largest class of cruise ship in the world after Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class.