MSC Cruises Splendida undergoes successful sea trials on Sunday 24 May
Fans of Italtian Cruise line MSC Cruises will be pleased to know that MSC Splendida has successfully completed her sea trials from her base at St Nazaire shipyard in France.
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MSC Splendida – the second in MSC Cruises’s luxurious Fantasia class of cruise ships – successfully completed its sea trials on the afternoon of Sunday 24 May. |
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The company’s new flagship left the Forme Joubert dock at STX Europe shipyard in St Nazaire, France, at 1500 on Thursday 21 May and headed out to the Ile d’Yeu and Belle-Ile for 72 hours’ sailing in the open sea. These trials made it possible to check numerous aspects of the ship’s performance, from comfort - noise and vibrations - to manoeuvrability, hydrodynamics and propulsion. Four tugboats were used to secure MSC Splendida’s transfer from the Forme Joubert dock, before she became acquainted with the Atlantic - unaccompanied for the first time. She returned to the shipyard, dock C, on Sunday afternoon. Approximately 400 people were mobilised during the sea trials. On completion of the ultimate trials and interior fitting, the flagship will be delivered to the ship owner on Saturday 4 July, when the flag changing ceremony will be performed. MSC Splendida will leave the shipyard on the same day and set out on her pre-christening voyage towards Barcelona, Spain. En route, the ship will call at Vigo, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; Malaga, Spain; Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands/Spain; Marseille, France; and Barcelona. There she will be christened by screen icon Sophia Loren – the company’s godmother – during a grand celebration scheduled for Sunday 12 July. Picture caption: MSC Splendida has successfully completed its sea trials in the Atlantic (source: B. Biger/STX France Cruise SA) MSC Cruises currently has the most modern fleet in the world with nine ships: MSC Fantasia - the largest ship ever built for a European ship owner - MSC Poesia, MSC Orchestra, MSC Musica, MSC Sinfonia, MSC Armonia, MSC Opera, MSC Lirica and, MSC Melody, cruising in the Mediterranean all year round, Northern Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean, North and South America, the Indian Ocean and South Africa. MSC Splendida and MSC Magnifica will be respectively launched in 2009 and 2010. MSC Cruises is the only company to have received the ‘6 Golden Pearls’ award from the Bureau Veritas in recognition of its high level of quality management and environmental protection. This is a cruise blog entry by Phil
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