On Tuesday 26th November, 2019 at 0740 hrs the latest addition to the MSC Cruises fleet MSC GRANDIOSA entered Valletta during her maiden call coming from Palermo, Sicily.
The 332 metres long liner berthed for the first time at the Valletta Cruise Port Pinto 1 and 2 wharves and she has cabins for more than 6,300 passengers, will be leaving Malta every Tuesday on the route between Spain, Italy and France.
MSC GRANDIOSA was delivered to MSC Cruises on Thursday 31st October from Chantiers de l’Atlantique. Gianluigi Aponte, MSC Group Chairman, attended the delivery ceremony, welcoming MSC Cruises’ newest flagship and one of the most environmentally advanced ships at sea. Following her christening, the ship will spend the winter sailing in the Mediterranean. MSC said that the new MSC GRANDIOSA is her most environmentally advanced ship yet and a testament to the company’s long standing commitment to protect the seas and respect the communities that it touches.
In addition to a hybrid “closed-loop” exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) which reduces ship sulphur emissions by 97 percent, The MSC GRANDIOSA is also the first MSC Cruises’ ship to feature a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system which helps reduce nitrogen oxide by 80 percent. All other MSC Cruises ships currently under construction will feature the SCR technology including MSC Grandiosa’s sister ship, the MSC VIRTUOSA, due to come into service in October 2020, as well as MSC SEASHORE currently under construction at Fincantieri. MSC also announced a fuel cell project on the new MSC EUROPA.
Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
Published – Wednesday 27th November 2019