Coin ceremony for cruise ship Explora II takes place at the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Ponente
Explora II is under construction in Genoa, at the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Ponente, and is the second of six ships from Explora Journeys, the new luxury brand of the Cruise Division of the MSC Group, according to the company's release.
A first section, assembled in recent months in Castellammare di Stabia, reached the Genoese shipyard by sea a few days ago, where the ship will be built over the next 18 months and will be delivered in August 2024. The Coin Ceremony took place today in Sestri Ponente.
The construction of Explora II required an investment of approximately euro 500 million on the part of the Cruise Division of MSC Group with significant economic and employment effects both for Genoa and the entire Ligurian and national territory. From an economic point of view, for example, the construction of an Explora Journeys ship is capable of generating an overall impact of more than euro 2 billion on the Italian economy, while in terms of employment, the construction requires over 7 million man-hours of work and the average employment of 2,500 people for about two years in the Genoese shipyard and related industries.
Explora II is part of an order for four luxury ships for over euro 2.2 billion, to which two options have been added – Explora V and Explora VI – which would bring the total value of the order to around euro 3.5 billion, with an impact of over euro 15 billion on the country’s economy. At the same time, the investment will ensure employment in the coming years at the Sestri Ponente shipyards where, along with Explora II, Explora III and Explora IV will also be built and will join the fleet, between 2024 and 2027.
The environmental technologies featured on the Explora ships are particularly sophisticated. The last four vessels (from III to VI) will be equipped with industry-first solutions and, specifically, they will be powered by LNG, the cleanest marine fuel currently available at scale, which virtually eliminates local air pollutant emissions like sulphur oxides (99 per cent), nitrogen oxides (85 per cent), particles (98 per cent) and CO2 (25%). Explora V and Explora VI will feature a containment system for liquid hydrogen, a low-carbon fuel, that will power a six-megawatt fuel cell to produce emissions-free power for the hotel operation and allow the vessels to run on ‘zero emissions’ in port, with the engines turned off.
All vessels will also be equipped with the latest environmental and marine technologies, including the latest selective catalytic reduction technology, shore power plug-in connectivity, underwater noise management systems to help protect marine life, and a comprehensive range of onboard energy efficient equipment to optimise engine use to further reduce emissions.
