MSC Showcases 2025 Status of Coral Reefs of the World Report

MSC Showcases 2025 Status of Coral Reefs of the World Report

MSC Cruises has announced that an MSC Foundation-supported report, drawing on more than 21 million observations, warns that marine heatwaves are reducing the time reefs have to recover.

The report is the largest global assessment of coral reef condition ever produced by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN).

It reveals the scale of the declining coral reef cover worldwide and highlights the importance of science-based conservation and long-term monitoring to help reefs recover and build resilience.

“We are proud to have contributed to this extraordinary global scientific effort,” said Daniela Picco, executive director of the MSC Foundation.

“Coral reefs are sending us a clear message: these vital ecosystems are under increasing pressure worldwide. Yet the report also shows that where local stressors are managed effectively, reefs can recover,” added Picco.

“This is why we strongly believe in the importance of investing in research and monitoring, which helps inform restoration locally.”

“This report provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of the status of the world’s coral reefs,” said Dr Manuel Gonzalez Rivero, lead author of the report.

“The strongest pathway to safeguard coral reefs is rapid emissions reductions, effective action on local pressures and sustained long-term monitoring so action is targeted where it matters most,” added Rivero.

According to MSC, coral reefs cover only 0.2 percent of the ocean floor, but they are home to more than 25 percent of all marine species. The report shows a relative decline of 9.5 percent compared to the baseline average for 1980-2009, with the steepest losses following mass bleaching events driven by marine heatwaves.

Despite the global decline, several regions show that reefs can recover when local threats are managed effectively. This provides an important message for policymakers and reef managers: well-designed local action can make a measurable difference.

MSC said in a press release that the report shows the Caribbean has shown a strong decline in coral cover, especially following strong marine heatwaves and disease outbreaks.

The 2025 GCRMN assessment draws on 40 years of global data, bringing together 21,1 million observations from 36,886 reef sites, more than 10 times the number included in the 2020 report. More than 600 partners worldwide collated the data across many reef monitoring networks.

The full report is available here.

MSC Confirms Construction of Second Island in Ocean Cay

MSC Confirms Construction of Second Island in Ocean Cay

MSC Cruises confirmed it is building a second private island destination adjacent to Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

According to a recent press release, the development is part of a larger expansion and enhancement project planned for its private destination, which is located near Bimini in the Bahamas.

MSC said that the yet-unnamed island will “stay true to the ethos of Ocean Cay, offering an experience that connects guests to nature, pristine beaches and the beauty of the ocean.”

The company added that the destination, which is known internally as Little Cay, will be equipped with “luxury facilities and water features.”

Further details of the new private island destination, including an opening date, are expected to be announced in the future.

In addition to confirming plans for a second island, MSC announced a series of enhancements to Ocean Cay.

After opening in 2019, the private island will introduce an extended pier in late 2027, allowing it to welcome two vessels at the same time.

Ocean Cay will also undergo updates to its guest areas with the creation of a new adults-only area, Paradise Sands, as well as additional dining venues.

In addition to its first specialty restaurant, the destination will welcome more buffet and food market options.

Guests will also be able to book a greater variety of cabanas, which are said to offer “even more choice and luxury relaxation.”

MSC is also upgrading the Seakers Cove Family Beach with a range of new experiences, including a kids’ playground, a splash pad and a ropes course with water elements.

The area will feature ping-pong and football activities, as well as all-age tournaments and interactive games.

The company will also introduce the new MSC Foundation “Shifting Perspective” Experience, which is described as an invitation for guests to explore marine conservation through immersive experiences.

In related news, MSC is also reportedly investing $450 million to build a new cruise port in Grand Bahama Island.

MSC Announces Expansion of Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve

MSC Announces Expansion of Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve

MSC Cruises has announced a new infrastructure development program for Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve in the Bahamas, according to a press release.

A heads of agreement was signed on Monday in Bimini attended by the country’s Prime Minister The Honourable Philip Davis and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Honourable Chester Cooper along with other government officials.

The company said that enhancements will be made to the island with additional amenities for MSC Cruises’ guests who visit the destination, accommodation for staff as well as operational and technical improvements and environmental infrastructure.

Guest facilities will be enhanced with the introduction of excursion center to support watersport activities and island tours, a sea dive and snorkel center, additional food and beverage outlets and other facilities, the company said.

The MSC Foundation’s Marine Conservation Centre will be built as a base for biologists, coral reef experts and students.  It will also house interactive pavilions, a lecture hall and coral exhibition tanks and provide MSC Cruises’ passengers visiting the island with educational opportunities about the importance of the marine ecosystem.

The island is home to the MSC Foundation’s Super Coral Program, which is considered a critical contribution in the contemporary understanding of coral reef resilience throughout the region.

MSC Foundation is supporting graduate student program designed to address and mitigate changes in thermal resilience of coral reefs throughout the tropical Western Atlantic. The coral nurseries at Ocean Cay are thriving with young and healthy, yet critically endangered species of endemic, reef building corals, representing hope in restoring these fragile ecosystems.

MSC said the development will also see a third solar farm installed as part MSC Cruises’ aim to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions for Ocean Cay, an advanced wastewater treatment plant, a landscaping plan to further diversify and develop the sustainable environment on the island with native and adaptive trees, grasses, and shrubs to provide erosion control, improve vegetation and support ecosystem health.

New accommodation buildings will see an increase in staff numbers from 150 to 280.

MSC Cruises today also pledged, as part of its ongoing social responsibility and commitment to invest in future generations of seafarers, that it will support the LJM Maritime Academy and the University of The Bahamas to enhance the training of Bahamians seeking to enter the maritime sector.

 

Explora Journeys Celebrates Explora I’s Naming Ceremony

Explora Journeys Celebrates Explora I’s Naming Ceremony

MSC Group’s Explora Journeys today celebrated the naming ceremony of the Explora I in New York City, the company said in a prepared statement.

The event included the maritime tradition of cutting a ribbon to break a bottle of champagne on the ship’s bow, officially naming it and bringing good luck.

Taking place at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, the christening ceremony was conducted by Explora I’s Godmother, Dr Sylvia Earle, a renowned marine biologist and oceanographer.

According to Explora, the event was also attended by guests from around the world, international journalists, key travel partners of Explora Journeys and senior representatives from MSC Group, who enjoyed a gala dinner following the ceremonial launch and an evening of vibrant celebrations.

“In the world of luxury travel, the Explora I is a game-changer. We are offering journeys that redefine the very essence of luxurious ocean travel,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, Cruise Division, MSC Group.

“We are looking to attract a wider group of discerning travelers who have experienced the finest luxury land-based resorts but seek more value, more authenticity, and a deeper connection to the world. Explora Journeys is the answer by giving you a way to discover off the beaten track destinations by sea, all whilst enjoying some of the best real estate in the world,” he added, highlighting the further five ships that are joining the fleet in the next five years.

Explora 1 photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr Account)

“Today’s event is a significant milestone for Explora Journeys as our first ship, the Explora I, brings to life our vision to reshape luxury travel. We are proud to introduce a new era of discovery and luxurious travel and to showcase our first ship in the vibrant city of New York,” said Michael Ungerer, CEO, Explora Journeys.

“I am honored to be the Godmother for Explora I and look forward to a meaningful relationship between Mission Blue, Explora Journeys and the MSC Foundation towards making a very positive contribution to protect and restore the world’s seas and oceans,” Dr Sylvia Earle, Founder and Chairman, Mission Blue.

The Explora I, the first of six luxury ships constructed by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, began sailing in July this year with a series of journeys in Northern Europe before crossing the Atlantic to New York with visits to Iceland, Greenland and Canada.

The ship has 461 oceanfront suites, penthouses and residences, six restaurants, 12 indoor and outdoor bars and lounges, four swimming pools, extensive outdoor decks with private cabanas and nearly 1,000 square meters of wellness and fitness facilities.

Sophia Loren to Name MSC Euribia in Copenhagen

Sophia Loren to Name MSC Euribia in Copenhagen

MSC Cruises announced that Oscar-winning actress Sophia Loren will name the cruise line’s 19th ship, the MSC Euribia at a ceremony scheduled for June 8 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In addition to having the Hollywood star name the ship, the ceremony will be hosted by television personality, model and actress Sarah Grünewald, who will serve as the Master of the Ceremony.

Guests can expect the traditional breaking of a bottle of champagne over the bow of the ship, a special gala dinner and a range of live performances, including a DJ set from the popular French DJ and record producer, Bob Sinclar

Following the naming ceremony, the MSC Euribia will start sailing seven-night cruises in Northern Europe departing from Kiel, Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark. The ship will explore Norwegian Fjords including Geiranger, Ålesund, and Flaam.

At the event in Copenhagen, guests will have the chance to catch a glimpse of the new ships’ features and amenities including Street. 2023, artwork by British artist Julian Opie; The Carousel Lounge; MSC Foundation Lab, an area dedicated to kids; five speciality restaurants including Le Grill and more.

MSC to Provide Earthquake Relief in Turkey and Syria

MSC to Provide Earthquake Relief in Turkey and Syria

MSC Virtuosa arriving into Southampton photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

The MSC Group and the MSC Foundation have organized an urgent response to support the population in the aftermath of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

The company is closely coordinating with the Turkish authorities, the Italian Foreign Ministry and the Vatican while one of its ferries, departed from the Port of Naples on February 16 heading towards the port of Iskenderun (Alexandretta).

“We feel a strong sense of obligation to act promptly in order to support the people most in need by all means. We are part of a global organization that can set in motion a large-scale operation by involving foundations and associations that we collaborate with all around the world,” said Daniela Picco, executive director of the MSC Foundation.

“As soon as the terrible earthquake in Türkiye and Syria struck, we immediately took action to collect funds, supplies and food, which we can deliver on our ships within a short period of time. This is where the valuable collaboration with the Francesca Rava Foundation comes in, and we thank you for immediately joining this initiative.

“The departure of MSC Aurelia from the port of Naples is an initial example of what we are doing, while we keep on working to provide associations and governments with what we can, so that by sea and by land some comfort can reach those who are presently living in dire situations and, in the future, for the rebuilding of cities and the environment. It is not the first time that the MSC Foundation and the MSC Group have been on the front lines of emergency relief operations: in 2022, we provided extraordinary funding worth millions of euros to offer aid to refugees from Ukraine and led eight emergency relief initiatives in nine countries, strengthening our global emergency capabilities,” added Picco.

The MSC Aurelia was loaded with basic necessities and first aid items that the MSC Group and the MSC Foundation have collected, together with the Rava Foundation. 

The cargo onboard included 60 pallets of medical supplies, food, hygiene items, warm clothing and blankets, as well as toys and crayons for children. Additionally,  50 boxes of thermal shirts are being carried on behalf of the Vatican.

When it arrived, the MSC Aurelia served as emergency accommodation, providing those impacted by the earthquake with over 1,000 beds as well as a restaurant and cinema and video-game entertainment for children.

The MSC Foundation is also collaborating with the UN Refugee Agency to ship an additional 100 containers carrying first aid supplies including blankets, mattresses, sleeping bags, kitchen sets, jerry cans and lamps from Jordan via Haifa, the headquarters of the UN Refugee Agency’s warehouses. The items will reach Gaziantep and other cities that were hit the hardest by the earthquake.

MSC Cruises holds naming ceremony for MSC Seashore

Guests at the event had the chance to explore both the new ship and the private island

MSC Cruises has officially named its new flagship, MSC Seashore, in a ceremony at its private island Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve in The Bahamas.

The celebration was the first naming ceremony for a cruise ship to be held at a private island. Italian actress Sophia Loren served as godmother in the ceremony, the 16th time she has performed the role for an MSC Cruises ship.

Guests at the event had the chance to explore the ship and private island, with festivities taking place both onboard and onshore. Events included a gala dinner and live entertainment from three-time Grammy Award-winner Nile Rodgers and his band Chic.

The naming ceremony also served to formally inaugurate Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, which opened in December 2019 and closed shortly afterwards due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The ground was broken for the MSC Foundation’s Marine Conservation Center, which includes a laboratory and coral nursery areas. The facility will be a key element of the Foundation’s Super Coral Program, which seeks to help restore coral reefs in The Bahamas to a healthy state through the propagation of ‘Super Coral’ species to increase their resilience. This work will be carried out in partnership with the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and Nova Southeastern University.

Following the event, MSC Seashore will begin sailing her inaugural seven-night cruise season from Miami, Florida, on 20 November.

MSC Cruises Publishes 2020 Sustainability Report

MSC Virtuosa photo credit David Jones© 

MSC Cruises has published its 2020 Sustainability Report. Due to the pandemic-induced cruise industry operation halt, this year’s report focuses on the steps that MSC Cruises took to secure the sustainability of its business, adapt its operation and prepare for a safe return of guests and crew alongside the key longer-term targets including decarbonization.

“During 2020 we achieved a huge amount and MSC Cruises rose to the challenges posed by the pandemic. We got all our guests and crew home safely early on, and we were then the first to launch our industry-leading health and safety operating protocol that has redefined cruising and made it one of the safest options for a holiday now, and in the future. And during all this, we did not lose sight of our commitments to be an ethical as well as a sustainable company,” said MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago.

“We made significant progress in protecting our planet by reducing emissions through investment in new technologies like LNG, which are bringing us closer to achieving net carbon neutral operations by 2050, as well as other major accomplishments in looking after our people, caring for the places we visit, improving procurement and providing emergency support through the MSC Foundation. This year’s report is another important milestone in our journey towards fully sustainable and zero climate impact operations,” he added.

Having abruptly halted all sailings fleet-wide in March 2020, MSC Cruises said that it had to see tens of thousands of guests safely home in a matter of days, establish a warm layup regime for the fleet, and start repatriating the vast majority of nearly twenty thousand crew members in an increasingly closed border environment.

Due to this halt, MSC Cruises said that it saw the number of commercially operational days for the year drop by 75 per cent and the number of passengers carried decreased by 78 per cent.

For the crew, closed borders and isolation periods meant that some of them were unable to return home for many months. They were looked after while they remained on board, given guest cabins for individual use, and provided additional emotional support services. While the cruise line looked for viable ways to safely repatriate them, MSC Cruises said that its specialized team ashore offered crew members ongoing group and one-to-one psychological support and assistance to help combat loneliness.

With the start of the pandemic, MSC Cruises said that it also rapidly set up the infrastructure required to enable a smooth transition to remote working for shoreside employees. A global communication platform was introduced to keep the business connected and allow "effective smart working."

The human resources teams worked rapidly with MSC’s IT team to ensure a “smooth transition for employees,” with online training being provided on its use and application. Over 700 shore-based staff attended these sessions, supporting an effective transition to remote working, MSC said.

In parallel to dealing with the immediate challenges brought by the pandemic, MSC Cruises worked on a Health & Safety Protocol in partnership with a specially convened Blue Ribbon COVID-19 Expert Group of public health experts.

MSC Cruises said that it “redesigned the entire cruise experience to provide guests with a safety bubble from the moment of embarkation to their return home.” Thanks to this, MSC said, it became the first cruise line to get approval from the relevant national and regional authorities to resume cruise operations in the Mediterranean region.

On Aug. 16, MSC Grandiosa departed from Genoa, Italy on a seven-night sailing having tested all guests and crew prior to embarkation, periodically screening everyone on board, and with robust contingency plans to manage suspected cases with the local health authorities.

MSC Cruises also developed a shore bubble excursion concept that ensures the safety of guests and the local communities during port calls.

According to a press release about the report, MSC also continued to make significant achievements in sustainability in 2020, which included the following: 

• Continued commitment to decarbonization: Remain on track to meet, or likely exceed, the target for 40-per cent improvement in emissions intensity by 2030 compared to 2008 as part of MSC’s journey to achieve net carbon neutral operations by 2050. Whilst true comparisons in 2020 compared to previous years are not possible with the long layups, a 2.5-per cent improvement was seen prior to lay up in 2020 compared to the previous year, which would bring efficiency improvements since 2008 to over 30 per cent.
• Optimizing energy use: In 2020, the MSC Grandiosa’s crew supported the implementation of Ecorizon, a process of ship energy optimization that collects data using onboard automation systems and sensors, allowing a very precise status report on the energy profile of the ship. The information collected is then compared with a dynamic digital twin to guide onboard operators, improve operational profiles and voyage management.
• Preparing for LNG operations: 2020 saw work advance on the MSC World Europa, MSC Cruises’ first LNG-powered ship. The ship is due to enter service in 2022, enabling a lower carbon footprint and significant reductions of SOx and NOx emissions compared to conventional propulsion. Two additional LNG-powered ships are due to enter service in 2023 and 2025.
• Promoting innovation: MSC Cruises continued to collaborate with other industry leaders in their fields to research and develop new solutions that will help the decarbonization of shipping. At the end of 2020, the EU Horizon 2020 fund awarded funding to the CHEK Consortium, a collaborative effort focusing on combining progressive energy technologies and forward-thinking ship design to promote low-carbon maritime operations including hydrogen propulsion and onboard waste to energy systems.

Additionally, teams across the business continued to work collaboratively to further reduce plastic use and creation of waste as well as lessen MSC’s impact on marine life and biodiversity.

“This report recognizes the immediate challenges that COVID-19 brought to us, and despite this, our continued focus on our environmental and social obligations and actions, not least the growing demand for decarbonization. At present, our industry is almost wholly reliant on fossil fuels. To achieve our zero-emissions goal, we will need to switch to new fuels and require the support of governments and regulators to enable this major transition in the cruise industry,” MSC Cruises’ Sustainability Director Linden Coppell said.

“In the meantime, we are committed to improving the energy efficiency of our existing fleet and are considering how best to prepare for the future. This includes investigating the use of low carbon fuels that, if available at scale, can replace existing fuels without significant modification of current machinery and systems,” she added.