Aker Yards laid the keel for MSC Cruises'
latest newbuild, the MSC Splendida, at its shipyard in St Nazaire,
France, on Wednesday.
The ceremony was
marked by a shipbuilding tradition of welding two coins to the
keel, one donated by Aker and the other by MSC.
The 133,500-ton
Splendida is slated for a June 2009 delivery; its sister ship, the
MSC Fantasia, is also under construction at Aker's St. Nazaire yard
and is expected to be delivered in spring 2008.
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