MSC Cruises has announced it has gone into an agreement with STX France to order up to 4 huge cruise ships. These ships will be over 200,000 gross tons and could rival the current largest ship in the world Harmony of the Seas.
The cruise line signed a letter of intent in Paris to order two ships with an option for another two which will be built in France. The new “World” class ships will carry 5,400 passengers and will be able to sail in all seasons with the ships being delivered in 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026. The ships will use Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) for fuel. The order will cost the cruise line $4.5 Billion and expand MSC Cruises even further.
#MSCCruises signs letter of intent for 4 "World Class" ships and brings new build count to 11 new ships by 2026. pic.twitter.com/RbQh17G3bb
— MSC Cruises (USA) (@MSCCruisesUSA) April 6, 2016
MSC Cruises currently has the 167,600 gross ton MSC Meraviglia being delivered in May 2017 along with a sister ship in 2019. The cruise line also has another two even larger Meraviglia-Plus Class ships on order at 177,100 gross tons as well as three Seaside class cruise ships on order at 154,000 gross tons each. With today’s announcement that’s 11 ships on order for MSC Cruises. We can expect further expansion in North America and China with all the upcoming vessels.
MSC Cruises didn’t reveal the World class rendering so we’ll have to wait for that along with further details about the design and features.
