Photo credit: MSC Cruises
MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique announced a major extension of their long-standing relationship with orders for two additional World Class ships, numbers 7 and 8, due to be delivered in 2030 and 2031.
The announcement was made at a double celebration event to mark important maritime milestones for two other World Class ships currently under construction at Chantiers de l’Atlantique’s shipyard in Saint Nazaire, France, the float out of MSC World Asia and coin ceremony of MSC World Atlantic.
Two new orders for World Class ships worth €3.5bn confirmed on Monday brings MSC Cruises’ total investment in the four ships ordered this year with Chantiers de l’Atlantique to nearly €7bn.
Together with the World Class vessels already under construction, this brings the company’s total direct investment currently committed in France to €10.5bn.
The construction of both World Class 7 and 8 will begin in 2029 and will join a legacy of ships delivered by Chantiers de L’Atlantique as part of its longstanding partnership with MSC Cruises.
MSC Cruises’ World Class consists of MSC World Europa (2022) and MSC World America (2025), MSC World Asia (2026), and MSC World Atlantic (2027), with the yet-to-be-named World Class 5, 6 7 and 8 ships to follow by 2031.
The two new orders will be subject to access to financing, as per industry practice.
Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman, cruise division, MSC Group, said: “We mark a proud moment today for MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique as we celebrate important milestones for our future – the float out of MSC World Asia, the coin ceremony of MSC World Atlantic and the order of two new ships. The World Class platform is a symbol of our vision to set new standards for the future of cruising.”
MSC World Asia will be delivered in November 2026 ready to sail in the Mediterranean and from December will offer seven-night sailings to the most popular destinations in the Western Mediterranean – Barcelona (Spain), Marseille (France), Genoa, Civitavecchia for Rome, Messina (Italy) and Valletta (Malta)
A traditional coin ceremony for MSC World Atlantic also took place on Monday, when the vessel’s godmothers from both the cruise line and the shipyard placed commemorative coins inside the ship as a sign of blessing during construction and to bring good fortune to the vessel. MSC World Atlantic will enter service in 2027 and will be deployed in the Caribbean Sea from Port Canaveral, U.S, for winter 2027-28.
MSC Cruises’ godmother was Lynn Torrent, Lynn is the president of MSC Cruises North America, overseeing all commercial and operational functions across the region.
From Chantiers de L’Atlantique, the godmother was Agnès Sahores, smart yard improvement manager, who has been working at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique for 25 years.
