Construction of Explora Journeys’ second ship, EXPLORA II, is building momentum with a Coin Ceremony taking place in Sestri Ponente, Genoa earlier this week.
A first section, assembled in recent months in Castellammare di Stabia, reached Fincantieri’s Genoese shipyard by sea a few days ago, where the ship will be built over the next 18 months and will be delivered in August 2024.
The Coin Ceremony was attended by local officials and the Executive Chairman of the Cruise Division of the MSC Group, Pierfrancesco Vago, and the Chief Executive Officer of Explora Jouneys, Michael Ungerer. Doing the honours for Fincantieri was the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Pierroberto Folgiero, and the General Manager of the Merchant Ships Division Luigi Matarazzo.
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“I am particularly proud that Explora Journeys ships are also built in Italy,” rejoiced Pierfrancesco Vago. “In fact, they are destined to represent Italian excellence in the world, honouring an engineering, innovation and design capacity that has no equal at an international level. The building of these ships bear witness to our concrete and tangible commitment in Italy and for Italy.
EXPLORA II is part of an order for four luxury ships for over euro 2.2 billion, to which two options have been added – EXPLORA V and EXPLORA VI – which would bring the total value of the order to around euro 3.5 billion. At the same time, the investment will ensure employment in the coming years at the Sestri Ponente shipyards where, along with EXPLORA II, III and IV will also be built and will join the fleet, between 2024 and 2027.
Meanwhile, Explora Journeys has also confirmed this week that EXPLORA I will be officially named on 8 July 2023 in Civitavecchia, near Rome.
The ship will then transfer to Southampton, UK for her inaugural journey on 17 July for a 15-night sailing in Northern Europe to Copenhagen, Denmark.
“The announcement that EXPLORA I will be named in just a few months from now in Civitavecchia is further proof that we are on track to get this exciting new lifestyle brand up and running and the first of our luxurious vessels at sea,” said Michael Ungerer, CEO Explora Journeys.