GNV ORION ship delivery
09 May 2025
Setting a new benchmark for the construction of luxury ro-ro passenger ships
On April 16th, Guangzhou Shipyard International, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, successfully delivered the second MSC/GNV 1800-passenger/3100-meter lane luxury ro-ro passenger ship to Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV), a ferry operator under the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). The delivery was 10 months ahead of the contract period and will be fully completed within 5 days after the sea trial.
In the current market situation, the early delivery of the ship by the owner fully reflects Guangzhou Shipyard International's strong performance capabilities and the operational value of the ship.
Ms. Maria Francesca De Leo, Financial Manager of GNV, named the MSC/GNV 1800-passenger/3100-meter lane luxury ro-ro passenger ship 'GNV Orion.' Mr. Giuseppe Gargiulo, Director of Newbuilding at MSC, and Mr. Zhou Xuhui, General Manager and Director of Guangzhou Shipyard International, accompanied her during the naming ceremony.
The ship is in RINA class, and Simone Manca, Vice President of RINA North Asia, presented the ship's certificate to captain Salvatore Provenzano.
Among the four luxury ro-ro passenger ships ordered by GNV from Guangzhou Shipyard International, the first ship, 'GNV Polaris,' was delivered and put into operation in October 2024. The second ship has been optimized and upgraded based on the first ship, with the number of cabins increased from 298 to 492 and the passenger capacity increased from 1500 to 1800.
The ship has a total length of 218 meters, a width of 29.6 meters, a depth of 10 meters, a design draft of 6.45 meters, a gross tonnage of approximately 52,912 tons, a deadweight of 7,994 tons, and a design speed of 25 knots.
The ship features a total of 12 decks, equipped with facilities such as a self-service restaurant, café, sightseeing hall, pizzeria, duty-free shop, aviation seating area, children's play area, and outdoor bar. It also has 7 elevators for efficient access throughout the ship, and the 3100-meter lane can accommodate over 600 cars or 200 40-foot container trailers.
The power system uses four 9-cylinder medium-speed diesel engines, achieving a speed of 25 knots at 83.5% of the rated power, with a range of 3500 nautical miles. It is equipped with a low-pressure SCR denitrification system to meet IMO Tier III nitrogen emission standards and RINA 'Green Plus' additional class notation requirements.
The ship is equipped with two U-shaped exhaust gas scrubbers to control sulfur emissions below 0.1%. It also features domestic steam turbine generator sets (900kW) to recover waste heat from the main engine, significantly improving the energy efficiency index.
The noise level in the living area of the ship is below 55 decibels at full speed, and the public area is below 60 decibels, meeting RINA notations 'COMF-VIB-B' and 'COMF-NOISE-B' standards. The ship's bottom coating uses 7200 square meters of new organic silicon anti-fouling paint, reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Additionally, it has isolation wards and epidemic prevention areas, and the air conditioning system has obtained the RINA 'BIOSAFE' biological safety class notation.
