Fincantieri Cuts Steel for New MSC Cruises Ship

MSC Cruises has named the first of two new Seaside EVO cruise ships at a steel cutting ceremony at Fincantieri's shipyard in Italy.

The 5,632-passenger 169,400-ton MSC Seahorse is due to enter service in spring 2021 and will feature an enhanced MSC Yacht Club covering three forward decks; specialty restaurants for al fresco dining, a larger number of whirlpools, 200 additional cabins and more generous public spaces.

The Seaside EVO ships will be equipped with a selective catalytic reduction system, exhaust gas cleaning technology, state-of-the-art waste management and recycling systems, advanced water treatment systems and an advanced energy and heat recovery system.

MSC Seashore will be joined by a second Seaside EVO ship in autumn 2022. She is part of the company's 10-year plan for 17 additional new mega ships, with four new vessels currently under construction at the same time. MSC Seashore is the seventh ship to be built under the plan and will become the 19th ship MSC Cruises has built since its inception in 2003.

Fincantieri delivered the 4,132-passenger MSC Seaview to MSC Cruises in June. With a gross tonnage of 153,000 tons and a length of 323 meters (1,060 feet), MSC Seaview was the largest and most technologically advanced ship ever to be designed and built in Italy. Sister ship MSC Seaside was delivered last November. MSC Seaview is the third ship to be built under MSC Cruises’ $12.4 billion investment plan which also includes MSC Meraviglia, delivered in May 2017. The company’s next ship, MSC Bellissima, is expected to be delivered next year.

Earlier this year, MSC Cruises and Miami-Dade County signed an agreement for extended preferential berthing rights and a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of a new Cruise Terminal AAA at PortMiami - MSC Cruises' exclusive home-port in the U.S. The new agreement extends MSC Cruises' existing Saturday preferential berthing rights also to Sundays. Additionally, the new terminal — which is projected to be completed by October 2022 — will be able to accommodate MSC Cruises' next-generation cruise ships carrying up to 7,000 guests.

MSC Seahorse

Length: 339 meters (1,112 feet)
beam: 41 meters (135 feet)
height: 74 meters (246 feet)
Gross tonnage: 169,400 GT
Guests: 5,632
Crew: 1,648
Guest cabins: 2,270
Maximum speed: 21.8 knots