MSC Cruises Signs Long-Term Deal for Operations Out of Dubai
by Jessica Montevago
MSC's agreement to operate out of Dubai, the largest cruise port in the UAE, was signed aboard MSC Bellissima last week. Photo: MSC Cruises.
MSC Cruises announced that it has signed a long-term agreement with DP World for preferential berthing rights at Mina Rashid Port in Dubai.
The contract was signed onboard the MSC Bellissima during her maiden call ceremony at the cruise terminal by the line’s CEO Gianni Onorato and Mohammed Abdul Aziz Al Mannaei, CEO, P&O Marinas, and executive director of Mina Rashid.
The 5,600-passenger ship will homeport at Mina Rashid ahead of the 2019-2020 winter cruise season. MSC Bellissima, which was launched in February of this year, will make 17 calls and spend 35 days in Dubai during the winter season until March 2020, and sail a range of two seven-night itineraries in the Gulf.
The first itinerary will visit Sir Bani Yas Island in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi; Muscat and Khasab in Oman; and Dubai in the UAE, before returning to Abu Dhabi. The second itinerary will take in Sir Bani Yas Island; Bahrain; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai.
MSC Cruises will also deploy the MSC Lirica in the Gulf for this winter season with 11-night cruises as well as 14-night cruises that call also to India.
“We will strengthen that bond further in winter 2020-2021 when we deploy the highly-innovative MSC Seaview, a ship especially designed to operate in warmer weathers, to serve the region,” Onorato said in a statement.
Dubai is the largest cruise port in the UAE with two terminals at Mina Rashid. The city welcomed more than 800,000 people during the 2018-2019 season, while the emirate’s tourism has a goal of 20 million tourists by 2020.
“The agreement with MSC Cruises for preferential berthing comes at a time when Mina Rashid has been experiencing double-digit increase in tourist traffic,” said Abdul Aziz Al Mannaei. “Key to this sterling performance is our flagship Hamdan bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal, the world’s single-largest covered cruise facility capable of handling 14,000 passengers a day.”
MSC Cruises will homeport several ships in Dubai throughout the contract’s term. The long-term agreement comes as MSC Cruises’ expects to carry in excess of 180,000 passengers in Dubai this season, a figure that will progressively grow through the length of the new agreement.
The new deal also includes commitments from both companies to further reduce the carbon footprint of MSC Cruises’ ships calling in Dubai.
