MSC Cruises celebrates delivery, keel laying, and steel cutting for three World class mega-ships

MSC Cruises marked major milestones for three World Class ships on Thursday at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.

The cruise line celebrated the delivery of MSC World America, the coin ceremony for MSC World Asia, and the steel cutting for the newly named MSC World Atlantic, with the construction of all three ships representing an investment of €3.4 billion.

MSC World America is the 23rd ship in MSC Cruises’ fleet and will be officially named on April 9th at the MSC Miami Cruise Terminal. Designed for the North American market, the ship features new venues and concepts tailored to American guests.

The ceremonies were attended by MSC Group Founder and Chairman Gianluigi Aponte, Executive Chairman of MSC Cruises Pierfrancesco Vago, Chantiers de l’Atlantique General Manager Laurent Castaing, French Minister for Industry and Energy Marc Ferracci and representatives from MSC Cruises’ newbuild team and the shipyard workforce.

“Today is a proud moment for all of us at MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique as we mark these major milestones in the development of our fleet,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of MSC Cruises. 

“Our new flagship is a testament to our long-standing, innovative partnership spanning over 20 years, resulting in five groundbreaking prototypes and 19 ships,” he added. “We look forward to raising the bar even higher with the upcoming MSC World Asia and MSC World Atlantic.”

The coin ceremony for MSC World Asia was conducted by godmothers Marialuisa Laccarino, Vice President of Shore Excursions, MSC Cruises, and Flavie Biondo, Chargé d’Affaires, Chantiers de l’Atlantique. 

Commemorative coins were placed beneath the ship’s keel block as it was lowered into the construction dry dock, marking the start of assembly of the vessel. The coins will be retrieved prior to the ship’s float out, and will be welded to the navigation mast for good luck.

The steel cutting for MSC World Atlantic marks the start of her construction, each of the steel sheets will be used to assemble different blocks of the hull and superstructure, which will then be welded together when assembly commences.

MSC World Asia will enter service in winter 2026/27, sailing in the Mediterranean to France, Italy, Spain and Malta. A definitive delivery date and itineraries have not yet been announced for MSC World Atlantic.