Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has laid keel for the Seven Seas Explorer, the first super luxury cruise ship that the company is building for Regent Seven Seas Cruises, brand of the Prestige Cruise Holdings group.
The keel laying ceremony was held at the Sestri Ponente (Genoa) shipyard on Wednesday,January 21st.
With its 56,000 gross tonnes and 223 metres in length, Seven Seas Explorer will be the flagship of the fleet, with accommodation for 750 passengers.
Fincantieri said that the new ship will be built using the very latest in environmental protection technologies. The delivery of the ship is scheduled for summer 2016.
Reservations for Seven Seas Explorer’s inaugural season have been opened for Seven Seas Society ® members. The sailings will become available to the general public starting Wednesday, February 4, 2015.
In addition, extension operations on MSC Sinfonia, the second out of four MSC cruise ships to undergo the Renaissance Programme of enhancements, have begun at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Palermo.
Only 2 months ago the conversion operations of the prototype MSC Armonia were completed and the ship left the shipyard on November 17.
The work at the Palermo shipyard has started with steel-cutting operations on the ship and has continued by moving the forward section for about 30 meters forward to allow the new midship section to be inserted.
With its 2,200 gross tonnes and in 24 meters length, this section will add a total of 106 new passenger and crew cabins, and new indoor and outdoor public areas.
The transformation operations will continue for the next 8 weeks with the joining of the two sections of the ship, the installation of all the systems and the conclusion of the fitting out of the ship.
During this phase, 87 new passenger cabins will be installed in the original section, while 60 new cabins with balcony will be inserted. These will replace the same number of external cabins originally equipped only with windows.
MSC Sinfonia will receive a new hull treatment to minimize drag and lower water resistance, considerably reducing fuel consumption.