MSC Divina, the newest ship in MSC’s flagship Fantasia class, is currently being built in the STX Europe shipyards in France, scheduled for launch in May next year... yet the Italian family-owned cruise company already has independent confirmation she is going to be a green paragon.
The news comes via shippingefficiency.org – a new website created to enable businesses and members of the public to consult independent energy efficiency ratings of ocean-going vessels so they can make an informed green choice.
Founded by the entrepreneurs behind the charity Carbon War Room – including Virgin Group chairman Sir Richard Branson – Shipping Efficiency uses a straightforward A to G rating system that is based on the methodology the International Maritime Organisation developed for the UN Energy Efficiency Design Index.
The ratings are presented on an intuitive graphical scale similar to those used to show the energy efficiency of houses, making them effortless to understand and compare.
The powerful yet easy-to-use search engine allows users to instantly consult a database of around 60,000 ships on which it provides a range of information, including year of construction, deadweight tonnage and engine size, as well as energy efficiency. “Cruise-goers who want to play their part in reducing carbon emissions will find the ratings provide impressive confirmation of MSC Cruises’ commitment to making green choices that keep the oceans blue, with the company’s ultramodern flagships MSC Splendida and MSC Fantasia earning the top A rating, as MSC Divina will do next year. In fact every ship in the MSC Cruises fleet is at the top of its class”, a company spokesman said.MSC Cruises is the world’s leading cruise company in the Mediterranean, South African and Brazilian markets and operates across the globe.
Its modern fleet comprises eleven ships: MSC Splendida and MSC Fantasia (the largest ships ever built for a European ship owner), MSC Poesia, MSC Orchestra, MSC Musica, MSC Sinfonia, MSC Armonia, MSC Opera, MSC Lirica and MSC Melody. MSC Magnifica, the newest ship in the fleet, was launched last March. The fleet cruises year-round in the Mediterranean and seasonally in Northern Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean, North America and Canada, South America, the Indian Ocean and South and West Africa.
Hamilton Travel Co. Ltd of Floriana, are the exclusive General Sales Agents of MSC Cruises in the Maltese Islands.
Every Wednesday, between April 20 and October 19, this year, the MSC flagship MSC Fantasia will be calling at Malta with 3,950 passengers on board and embarking around 120 Maltese and Gozitan passengers weekly.