Two more ships for Italian cruise line

The Italian cruise liner company, MSC Crociere, has just announced it will be expanding its fleet with another two ships, which will be completed by 2011 and 2012.

The MSC Meraviglia and MSC Favolosa will be the fifth and sixth sister ships in the Musica class, with 93,000 tons of gross tonnage, 1,275 cabins and a maximum occupancy of 3,013 passengers. The news emerged from a press conference in Milan where MSC Crociere CEO Pierfrancesco Vago and company general manager Domenico Pellegrino, announced the expansion of the liners, which will be built at the Aker Yards, in France.

"I can say with pride that MSC Crociere has the most modern fleet in the world," Mr Vago said.

The two new vessels will see the fleet growing to 14 ships - over 1.4 million passengers will be carried by 2012. These two ships will complete the development plan that has allowed the company to achieve a series of absolute records.

From July 15, 2009 MSC Crociere will be sailing weekly from and to Malta with its 133,500-tonne new flagship, the MSC Splendida, for 20 consecutive weeks.

Hamilton Travel of Floriana is the exclusive general sales agent for MSC Crociere.