MSC Cruises' latest flagship, the Splendida, made its maiden voyage to Malta yesterday, signalling the company's commitment to bring 170,000 passengers to the island next year.
The 333-metre long Splendida, carrying nearly 4,000 passengers, is the largest ship to enter Grand Harbour, benefiting from Viset's €2 million quay extension at the Valletta Waterfront.
Having just been christened in Barcelona five days ago by screen legend Sophia Loren during a spectacular ceremony starring tenor José Carreras and king of flamenco Joaquin Cortés, the Splendida was welcomed in Malta with a lot of pomp.
Archbishop Paul Cremona blessed the ship and President George Abela, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco, Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat, ministers and numerous MPs, were all on board to welcome what the company claims to the "the most beautiful ship in the world".
The cruise liner industry is one of the few that is sailing through the global economic slowdown and Norman Hamilton, managing director of Hamilton Travel that represents MSC Cruises in Malta, said the Italian company planned to include the island in its winter itinerary.
The Splendida will sail into Malta every Wednesday until November and then sail six times in the shoulder months of January and March. It will restart the season that runs between March 31 and November 18, 2010 calling to Malta every Wednesday for 34 consecutive weeks. This is in addition to visits by the Italian giant liner's other ships, the Poesia and the Magnifica, that will be launched in Hamburg in March.
About 10,000 Maltese passengers would have embarked on an MSC Cruises liner this year with 7,000 of these having started their cruise holiday from Malta, MSC Cruises managing director Domenico Pellegrino said.
He said the arrival of the Splendida was a dream that was only realised through Mr Hamilton's persistence and the government's and Viset's commitment to complete the quay's extension in time for its arrival.
Mr Pellegrino, who flew in for the occasion, said MSC Cruises was marking 10 years of collaboration with Hamilton Travel and he looked forward to expanding its operations in Malta, which according to Captain Giuliano Bossi had "the most beautiful port in the world".
Dr de Marco said the government was supporting the industry and announced that within a few weeks Boiler Wharf in Senglea would be operational for cruise liners.
While the figures had dipped slightly this year, compared to last year's 550,000 passengers, Dr de Marco was confident that, thanks to companies such as MSC Cruises, 2010 would be as good as 2008, which was the best year for the industry.
Dr Gonzi said it was refreshing to hear the good news at a time of an economic slowdown and he sent a strong message to stakeholders and operators that there was no place for complacency and Malta's attractiveness as a port of call had to be maintained.
Factbox
• At 333 metres long, the liner is three times the height of the Portomaso Tower in St Julians.
• The Splendida is 67 metres tall; the size of a 23-storey skyscraper.
• The liner weighs 137,936 tonnes and its two propellers are bigger than a double-decker bus.
• It has a surface area of 450,000 square metres, the equivalent of about 60 football pitches.
• The ship has 1,637 cabins - more guest rooms than New York's famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel - with 82 per cent being outside and 1,256 cabins with private balconies.
• The lavish décor includes 17,000 square metres of pile carpet, enough to cover Trafalgar Square in London and Times Square in New York.
• The ship is illuminated by 65,000 light bulbs and if all the electricity cables were connected end to end, they would stretch from Barcelona to Hamburg.
• MSC Cruises is the only company to have received the prestigious Six Golden Pearls Award from the international certification body Bureau Veritas for having two of the greenest ships in the world, the Splendida and the Fantasia.