The first new ferry for the shipping company Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV), which is part of the MSC Group, has been launched in China
The vessel, named “GNV Polaris”, is the first in a series of four RoPax ships to be delivered to the MSC Group in the course of 2025. The ships are being built at Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). [ds_preview]
While the first two newbuildings will be equipped with conventional propulsion systems and scrubbers, ships number 3 and 4 will be fitted with dual-fuel propulsion systems. In addition, SCR exhaust gas aftertreatment systems and heat recovery technologies will be installed to meet the requirements of IMO Tier III and EEDI Phase II. Each of the 218 m long and 29.6 m wide ships can accommodate up to 1,500 passengers in 303 cabins, plus 3,100 track meters for rolling cargo.
For MSC and GNV, this is the first order for such ships in China. However, the shipyard already has experience in this segment. The first two new RoPax units for Moby, “Moby Fantasy” and “Moby Legacy”, were built here – the largest RoPax ferries in the world in terms of capacity. The GNV ships are smaller.
In 2018, MSC and the shipping company Moby, which belongs to Onorato, announced that they would each order two ships in China, plus the option for two further newbuilds. While Moby placed the order in 2019, MSC did not place the order until the end of 2021 due to a disagreement over the price. The delivery of the first ship, originally planned for 2024, was postponed to 2025.
