MSC Cruises is a Swiss global cruise line based in Geneva, with operations offices in Naples, Genoa and Venice. It was founded in 1989 in Naples, Italy, as part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). In addition to being the world's largest privately held cruise company, employing about 23,500 people worldwide and with offices in 45 countries as of 2017, MSC Cruises is the third-largest cruise company in the world, after Carnival Corporation & plc and Royal Caribbean Group, with a 10.2% share of all passengers carried in 2021.
Fincantieri S.p.A. is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014). The company builds both commercial and military vessels.
The Port of Barcelona is a major port in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Its 7.86 km2 (3 sq mi) are divided into three zones: Port Vell, the commercial/industrial port, and the logistics port. The port is managed by the Port Authority of Barcelona, itself owned by the state-owned Ports of the State.
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while others use the ships as means of transportation.
Minoan Lines is one of the largest passenger ferry companies in Europe, and one of the dominant passenger ferry companies in Greece, sailing between Piraeus and Crete and in the Adriatic Sea, between Patras and various Italian ports. The company was founded in May 1972. Since 2008 Grimaldi's Compagnia di Navigazione SpA owns and controls 95.9 of the stock of Minoan Lines.
Finnlines Plc is a shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Baltic and the North Sea. Finnlines’ passenger-freight vessels offer services from Finland to Germany and via Åland to Sweden as well as from Sweden to Germany. The Company has subsidiaries in Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark and Poland. In addition to sea transportation, the Company provides port services in Finland in Helsinki and Turku.
The Grimaldi Group is a private shipping company owned by the Grimaldi family and based in Naples, Italy. Grimaldi operates a large fleet of ro-ro, ro-ro/multipurpose, con-ro multipurpose, PCTC, ro-pax and cruise ferries vessels.
MS Skania is a fast ropax ferry operated by Unity Line on their Świnoujście-Ystad route. She was built in 1995 by Schichau Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, Germany for Superfast Ferries as MS Superfast I. Between 2004 and 2008 she sailed for Grimaldi Lines as MS Eurostar Roma.
Costa Deliziosa is a cruise ship flagship operated by Costa Crociere. Ordered in 2007 as part of a five-ship expansion of the Costa Cruises Fleet, Costa Deliziosa was constructed by Fincantieri, launched in March 2009, and handed over to Costa Crociere in January 2010.
MS Kydon Palace is a Greek Ro-Pax high speed ferry, built in 2001 at the Sestri Ponente shipyards by Fincantieri as Festos Palace for Minoan Lines' overnight services between Piraeus and Crete. Initially she ran to Heraklion. In 2020 she was transferred to the Piraeus–Chania route and renamed Kydon Palace She is a sister ship of Knossos Palace. She can reach speeds up to 30 knots. The ship's facilities include restaurants, bars and cabins.
MS Europa Palace is a fast ropax ferry owned by Grimaldi Lines and operated by Minoan Grimaldi Lines. The ship previously named Cruise Olbia and did the Civitavecchia-Olbia route. Built in 2001 as Superfast VI by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Kiel, Germany for Attica Group's subsidiary Superfast Ferries, she was sold to the Genting Group in 2013, Renamed Bimini Superfast for the Bimini-Miami route. In 2016 she was sold to her current owners.
MS Norman Atlantic was a roll-on/roll-off passenger (ROPAX) ferry owned by the Italian ferry company Visemar di Navigazione. The ferry was chartered by ANEK Lines from December 2014. On 28 December 2014, she caught fire in the Strait of Otranto, in the Adriatic Sea.
The HSF Cruise Bonaria is a Ro-Pax high speed ferry, built in 2000 at the Sestri Ponente shipyards by Fincantieri and owned by Grimaldi Lines previously owned by Minoan Lines as Knossos Palace. It can accommodate up to 2,500 passengers and 700 cars, and has 758 beds plus 742 airseats for passengers. The vessel is powered by four 4x Wärtsilä 16V46C diesel engines with a combined power of 67,517 kW, which give her a top 'speed of 31,6 knots. In November 2020 Minoan Lines announced that Knossos Palace exchanged with her former ship Cruise Bonaria previously named Olympia Palace. The first sold to Grimaldi Lines and renamed it Cruise Bonaria and the other one renamed Knossos Palace. The former Knossos Palace was under the Minoan Lines 20 years. For 20 years did the Piraeus-Heraklion route. The ship left Greece forever on 24 November and arrived in Napoli, Italy after two days. In there will change signals and name.
MS Cruise Roma, owned and operated by Grimaldi Lines, is the longest cruiseferry in the world. It was built at Fincantieri in Castellammare di Stabia, Italy.
MS Cruise Barcelona is a cruiseferry owned and operated by Grimaldi Lines. It was built at Fincantieri in Castellammare di Stabia, Italy.
MS La Superba is a cruiseferry owned and operated by the Italian ferry company Grandi Navi Veloci. It was built at Nuovi Cantieri Apuania in Marina di Carrara, Italy. When it entered service, La Superba was the largest passenger ferry operating in the Mediterranean, and one of the largest in the world; joined in the following year by the sistership La Suprema, it was surpassed in 2008 by Cruise Roma of Grimaldi Ferries. Its building costed about 120 million dollars.
MS La Suprema is a cruiseferry owned and operated by the Italian ferry company Grandi Navi Veloci. It was built at Nuovi Cantieri Apuania in Marina di Carrara, Italy. The second of a two-ship class, La Suprema and her sistership La Superba were the largest passenger ferries of the Mediterranean at the time of their completion; they were surpassed in 2008 by Cruise Roma of Grimaldi Ferries. Its construction cost about 120 million dollars.
Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) is an Italian shipping company, based in Genoa, that operates ferries between mainland Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, France, Albania, Morocco and Tunisia. It was established by Aldo Grimaldi in 1992.
MS Cruise Sardegna is a cruiseferry owned and operated by Grimaldi Group. Previously was operated by Minoan Lines under the name Cruise Olympia. It was built at Fincantieri in Castellammare di Stabia, Italy.
The MS Cruise Smeralda is a RO/PAX ferry operated and owned by Grimaldi Lines. The ship was built as Ikarus in Fosen Mek Verksteder A/S, Norway for Minoan Lines in 1997, and later renamed Ikarus Palace. She has a sister ship Jean Nicoli now with Corsica Linea.
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