MSC Meraviglia heads out to sea trials

The ship left the Saint-Nazaire yard Thursday morning and is sailing off the coast of Belle-Ile to test sea-keeping, reactivity, energy consumption and various systems related to navigation, security and propulsion. MSC Meraviglia was expected back Sunday morning.

Its delivery is to take place between the end of May and the beginning of June, before its official christening by godmother Sophia Loren on June 3 in Le Havre. The French city is celebrating its 500th anniversary from June 3 to Nov. 5.

Stretching 315 meters in length, 43 meters at the beam and 65 meters high, the 167,000gt MSC Meraviglia has 2,244 passenger cabins, 75% with a balcony. At full capacity, it can accommodate 5,714 passengers, served by an average of 1,540 crew members.

MSC Meraviglia's sister, MSC Bellissima, is also being built at Saint-Nazaire and is planned for delivery in spring 2019. From the same builder, two other ships of the Meraviglia-Plus class (with 200 additional cabins) are planned for autumn 2019 and 2020.