VIDEO: Countdown Begins for MSC Zoe’s Christening

The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world’s second largest container line, is about to christen the third super container ship of its ‘Oscar class’ series featuring 19,224 TEU vessels.

MSC took delivery of its second 19,224 TEU container ship – MSC Oliver – in March, two months after its record breaking sister ship MSC Oscar was inaugurated at the DSME shipyard in Busan, South Korea. MSC Zoe is the third of a total of twenty mega- vessels which are scheduled for delivery by the end of the year.

The ship is underway toward Hamburg, Germany where it is scheduled to arrive on August 1st for christening.

A sneak peek into the ship’s journey is shown in the video below giving you a taste of the ship’s size as it dwarfs the passersby gathered on the coast to salute the colossal vessel while en route in Nauw Van Bath, Zeeland, Netherlands.

The vessel, MSC Zoe, is named after the daughter of MSC Cruises Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago and MSC Group CFO Alexa Aponte Vago.

The christening ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, the 2nd of August and will host, among others, representatives of the vessel’s shipbuilders from South Korean, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME), classification society DNV-GL, local authorities and financiers.

The christening ceremony is an important moment in the life of the ship and her crew and is an occasion steeped in tradition. It involves the exchange of the vessels crest, breaking a bottle of champagne against the ship’s hull and the ceremonial ribbon cutting on the bridge.

The vessel, built in Okpo, South Korea, operates on the SWAN service between Asia and North Europe.

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Facts about MSC’s ‘OSCAR CLASS’ vessels

Length (LOA): approx.. 395.4 m
Breadth MLD: 59.0 m
Service speed: 22.8 knots at design draft
Gross tonnage: 193,000 tons
Crew: up to 35 crew members on board.

Video: Youtube; remacomultimedia