MSC‘s new cruise vessel »MSC Preziosa« will be christened in Genoa on[ds_preview] 23 March. Built at STX France, the »Fantasia«-class cruise ship was ordered by the Libyan state-owned company General Na-tional Maritime Transport Corporation. After the outbreak of the Libyan civil war the contract was cancelled and in March 2012 MSC bought the 333 m long and 38 m wide ship. The vessel, designed for ca. 3,400 passengers, is equipped with one of the longest water slides to date. It is 13 m high, 120 m long and has a diameter of 900 mm.
Meanwhile, the company announced that »MSC Melody«, the smallest ship in its fleet, retired from service. According to a statement, the cruise vessel does not meet the standard of MSC any-more. The 205 m long and 27 m wide vessel (35,143 GT) has been part of the fleet since 1997, when she was originally purchased as the »Starship Atlantic«. The 1982-built cruise ship has a capacity of just over 1,000 passengers in 532 cabins.
