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 Nidhi Verma NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (Reuters) – India will set up a 250-billion-rupee ($2.9-billion) maritime development fund for the long-term financing of the country’s shipbuilding and repair industry, Finance Minister...
WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) – When Marco Rubio arrives in Latin America this weekend on his first foreign trip as Donald Trump’s secretary of state, he’ll find a region reeling from the new administration’s...
US President Donald Trump has raised the stakes for a meeting of an OPEC+ ministerial panel next month, with his call for the group to lower oil prices.
January 24, 2025
Total Views: 1325
Sign Up Now for gCaptain Daily
We’ve got your daily industry news related to the global maritime and offshore industries.
JOIN OUR CREW
Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 108,984 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Your Gateway to the Maritime World!
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
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.