MSC Splendida

MSC Splendida is a Fantasia-class cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises. Constructed at STX France in Saint-Nazaire, she commenced service in July 2009 with $550m investment.

History
Name: MSC Splendida
Operator: MSC Cruises
Port of registry:  Panama[1]
Ordered: November 16, 2005
Builder: STX Europe (St. Nazaire)[1][2]
Cost: $550 million[1]
Laid down: October 24, 2007
Launched: July 18, 2008
Christened: July 12, 2009 by Sophia Loren[3]
Completed: July 2, 2009
Maiden voyage: July 4, 2009
Identification:
Status: In service
General characteristics
Class and type: Fantasia-class cruise ship
Tonnage: 137,936 GT[1]
Length: 333.33 m (1,093.60 ft)[4]
Beam: 37.92 m (124.41 ft)[1]
Height: 66.81 m (219.2 ft)[6]
Draft: 27.2 ft (8.29 m)[4]
Decks: 18 total, 13 passenger decks[1][6]
Installed power: Diesel (40,000kW)[1]
Propulsion: 2 propellors[1]
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h)[2]
Capacity: 3,900 passengers[1]
Crew: 1,313 crew[1]
Notes: 15 elevators,[6] post-Panamax

MSC Cruises announced the suspension of all North American itineraries until June 30, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]

History
MSC Splendida in Geirangerfjorden in June 2015.

MSC Splendida is a sister ship to MSC Fantasia. Built in July 2009 with an investment of $550 million, weighs of 137,936 GT, 33,330m-long ship with a beam of 37.98m, height of 66.81m and its draft 8.29m, and carries 3,900 passengers.[8][9] The two Neopanamax vessels were to be the largest ships in a European cruise line's fleet at the time of delivery.[10] Originally, she was to be named MSC Serenata, but the name was changed in May 2007 to MSC Splendida[11][12] "to reflect the ship's beauty and elegance".[13]

The then-unnamed vessel was part of a two-ship order made by MSC Cruises with STX France on November 16, 2005, for a tentative delivery in spring 2009.[14] Construction began on then-MSC Serenata on 12 April 2007 with the steel-cutting.[10] The ship was launched from the shipyard on 18 July 2008.[15] She began her sea trials on 21 May 2009 and completed them on 27 May 2009.[16] The ship was delivered to MSC Cruises on July 4, 2009.[16] She embarked on her maiden voyage on July 4, 2009[17] and returned July 11, to be officially named on July 12, 2009, in Barcelona by Sophia Loren, her godmother.[3] In May 2017, it arrives in China and made its refurbishment in November.[18]

Itineraries

MSC Splendida makes his first appearance of sailing in Mediterranean in 2017.[19] In April 2018 set to be deployed in Shanghai, China to Korea and Japan after its refurbishment in 2017.[20] It has been sailing in Japan on 2018 to 2019,[21] to Yokohama.[22] In April 2020, it makes the maiden call in the port of Kochi, India.[23] In October 2019 it started homeporting in China's Tianjin.[24] It visited Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Vietnam with over 2,000 passengers in February 2020.[25] In 2020 March, the ship docked in Palong, Thailand beach during the coronavirus pandemic, after more the 2,700 passengers was disembarked, Patong hospital were on to check passengers.[26] The ship is scheduled to serve Southeast Asia until summer 2020 before repositioning to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.[27] the MSC Splendida is one of the largest cruise ship to homeport in Hamburg since 2015.[28]

Amenities

The ship's horn system is set up to play multiple songs, including "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" by Queen, "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes and "Happy Birthday to You".[29]

Incidents

Bardo National Museum attack
Main article: Bardo National Museum attack

On March 18, 2015, MSC Splendida was in port in Tunis with Costa Fascinosa when gunmen opened fire on tourists at the Bardo National Museum. Twelve passengers hailing from Japan, Italy, Colombia, Spain, Britain, Australia, Poland, and France, were killed.[30]

Coronavirus pandemic
See also: COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships

On 2020.03.23, around 14:00 CET, a Thai crew member working aboard as a buffet attendant was medically evacuated via lifeboat after she exhibited symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and was having difficulty breathing.[lower-alpha 1][31] At the time, the ship was near the island of Sardinia and headed to Marseille[lower-alpha 2] to disembark all of its passengers.[31]

On 2020.03.24, MSC Cruises informed the crew that the sick crew member had tested negative.[31] However, two days later, on 2020.03.26, it was reported that the sick crew member had been tested again, and this time, the test had returned positive.[31] As a result, 16 crew members were placed under quarantine.[31] The ship later docked in Genoa so that some of its crew members could disembark.[33]

By 2020.04.01, 26 crew members had been placed under quarantine, with 3 crew members running high temperatures.[31]

MSC Splendida is featured on Indian Tamil film, Manmadan Ambu.[34]

Notes
  1. She had been suffering from a fever and a sore throat for three days, and her health had been worsening.[31]
  2. The cruise originally was supposed to end at Genoa on 2020.03.29, but the trip was cut short due to the pandemic and the end of the cruise was moved up to 2020.03.24 when it docked at Marseille.[32]

References
  1. Ward, Douglas (2009). Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships (18th ed.). Singapore: Berlitz. ISBN 978-981-268-564-3.
  2. "MSC Splendida". ShipParade. Archived from the original on 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  3. "MSC Splendida Christening to Feature Sophia Loren". TravelPulse. Performance Media Group, LLC. 2009-06-10. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
  4. "MSC Splendida (9359806)". Veristar Info. Bureau Veritas. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  5. "MSC Splendida (IMO: 9359806)". vesseltracker.com. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  6. "Technical Sheet" (PDF). MSC Cruises. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  7. "MSC Cruises is latest to suspend operations through summer". 30 April 2020.
  8. "MSC Splendida Cruise Ship". Ship Technology.
  9. "Iowans on cruise ship expected to be home soon". weareiowa.com.
  10. Staff, C. I. N. (2007-05-31). "MSC Serenata Renamed MSC Splendida". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  11. "MSC Serenata is renamed MSC Splendida". MSC Cruises. 2007-05-31. Archived from the original on 2007-08-29. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
  12. "MSC Serenata is Renamed MSC Splendida". yourcruiseyourway. 2007-06-01. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  13. "MSC Serenata Becomes MSC Splenida". thecruisepeople.ca. 2007-05-31. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  14. Newsletter, C. I. N. (2005-11-16). "MSC Expansion, Two New Ships Ordered". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  15. "MSC Splendida (9359806)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  16. "MSC Splendida completes trials". Ship Management International. 2009-05-27. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
  17. "MSC Splendida Pre-Christening Voyage". Free Press Release. 2009-05-22. Archived from the original on 2012-10-03.
  18. Staff, C. I. N. (October 18, 2017). "MSC Announces Game Changing Features for China-Bound Splendida". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  19. Ashmore, Jehan. "MSC Splendida's Mediterranean Sister Makes An Appearance". afloat.ie.
  20. retail, Trbusiness The travel retail Trbusiness The magazine for global; Professionals, Duty Free (April 16, 2018). "MSC Splendida ship set to be deployed in China on May 18 | Travel Retail Business". Trbusiness.
  21. "MSC Cruises coming to Japan - The Medi Telegraph". themeditelegraph.com. February 13, 2018.
  22. Staff, C. I. N. (March 18, 2019). "Big Season, New Piers for Yokohama". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  23. Staff, C. I. N. (April 8, 2019). "MSC Splendida Makes Maiden Call in India". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  24. "MSC Splendida starts homeporting in Tianjin". seatrade-cruise.com. October 25, 2019.
  25. "Five-star cruise ship MSC Splendida visits Ba Ria-Vung Tau". en.nhandan.org.vn.
  26. Com, The Phuket News (March 5, 2020). "Phuket News: More than 2,700 cruise tourists arrive in Patong". The Phuket News Com.
  27. "MSC SPLENDIDA MAKES MAIDEN CALL IN KOCHI, INDIA". MSC Corporate Information & Media Room. 2019-04-07.
  28. "MSC Splendida Becomes Largest Cruise Ship to Homeport in Hamburg". TravelPulse.
  29. "Cruise ship MSC Splendida playing We Will Rock You / Seven Nation Army on its horn". YouTube. HD1080ide. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  30. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-03-21. Retrieved 2015-03-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. "MSC Splendida Emergency Medical Evacuation of Crew Member | Crew Center". crew-center.com.
  32. "JavaScript is disabled in your browser". Travelweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  33. News, ABS-CBN. "More than 300 Filipino seafarers from Italy, Portugal back in the Philippines". ABS-CBN News.
  34. "MSC Splendida stars in forthcoming Bollywood Film". Breaking Travel News. 2010-12-15. Archived from the original on 2011-04-04. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.