Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised MSC Cruises (“MSC”) on the delivery of the “MSC Seascape”, built at Fincantieri (Italy) the sister ship of the innovative MSC Seashore. The vessel was funded by a pre- and post-delivery financing facility backed by Italian ECA SACE, which was documented by WFW in July 2018.
The delivery of MSC Seascape comes just over three weeks after the delivery of “MSC World Europa” built at Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire (France), which WFW also advised on. MSC World Europa is the world’s largest liquefied natural gas-powered cruise ship and believed to be the most environmentally high performing cruise vessel operating today.
Both vessels host a wide range of innovative design features including the latest generation environmental technology to improve energy efficiency, systems to reduce air emissions, and advanced wastewater treatment with purification standards which are higher than most wastewater treatment facilities ashore. The investment in these environmentally sound vessels contributes towards MSC’s sustainability goals.
The WFW London Maritime team advising on the financing and delivery of both vessels was led by Of Counsel Emily Widdrington with assistance from Associate Lottie Lymer and, in the case of the financing of MSC World Europa, with support from Partner Richard Dibble. Managing Partner Lindsey Keeble and Partner Robert Platt led on the construction aspects for each delivery.
Emily commented: “It was a pleasure to assist long-standing client MSC in ensuring that the financing and delivery of these ground-breaking sustainable vessels were completed smoothly and efficiently. Being involved in supporting our clients in achieving their ‘green goals’ is important to us at WFW, as we continue at the forefront of the drive for sustainability and addressing the challenges it presents across the maritime sector”.
