A new 24-meter midsection for the existing MSC Armonia cruise ship was inserted into place today at the Fincantieri shipyard in Palermo, Sicily after the ship was cut in half as part of lengthening operation beginning earlier this month.
The MSC Armonia arrived at the Fincantieri shipyard on August 31 for the lengthening process, which began when the ship entered drydock and engineers started the cutting operation by marking the line in the ship that needed to be cut. The steel cutting was completed on Monday ahead of today’s physical lengthening, which saw the 14,000-ton bow section separated from the stern by 30 meters allowing space for the new 24-meter mid-section to be inserted.
The lengthening of the MSC Armonia is part of a €200 million “Renaissance Programme”, which will lengthen and enhance four vessels in the MSC fleet, including the MSC Armonia, MSC Sinfonia, MSC Opera and MSC Lirica. The four ships were built between 2003 and 2005 at the STX yards in Saint-Nazaire, France and are currently 251 meters long, weigh 60,000 tons and carry 2,069 travelers. After the so-called “renaissance programme”, the ships will be 275 meters long, weigh 65,000 tons and carry 2,680 travelers, with 194 additional passenger cabins plus 59 new crew cabins, among some other upgrades and enhancements.
Prefabrication of the new 2,200-ton midship section began at the shipyard this summer and the section was floated earlier this week.
The entire operation is expected to take 11 weeks from start to finish. The MSC Armonia is expected to return to service on November 17th for a one-off inaugural Mediterranean cruise from Genoa to the Canary Islands.
The next three ships are to be lengthened over the next year.
By Malte Humpert (gCaptain) – Just days after securing funding in the FY 2025 budget to acquire a commercial icebreaker, the U.S. Coast Guard says it has made little headway...
SYDNEY, March 21 (Reuters) – Fiji will strike a deal with Australia to upgrade ports and shipbuilding infrastructure, months after its prime minister said it was likely to partner with China on the...
(Bloomberg) — Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion has entered a new phase, pitting homegrown drone technology against a 2,000 kilometer (1,200 mile) swathe of largely Soviet-era oil facilities. At least...
March 20, 2024
Total Views: 13642
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.