Paris team advises on financing of largest cruise ship to be built in Italy

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised a pool of lenders on a SACE-backed shipping financing for the construction of the largest ever cruise ship to be built in Italy, MSC Seascape, built at Fincantieri, Italy.

MSC Cruises took delivery of MSC Seascape on 16 November 2022. The ship arrived in New York on 5 December, with her first sailing from Miami taking place this week.

MSC Seascape is the sister ship of MSC Seashore – also built at Fincantieri, Italy, and delivered in 2021 - and completes the innovative Seaside class of MSC. The firm’s Paris team assisted on the financing, post-closing activities and deliveries of both vessels. The financing, provided for two companies within the MSC Group, was backed by Italian export credit agency SACE.

MSC Seascape will initially sail the Caribbean seas and has an innovative design, with nearly 13,000m of outdoor space and an expansive waterfront promenade. The vessel incorporates a range of cutting edge technologies, designed to minimise the impact on the air and marine environment, and to improve energy efficiency, air emissions, and wastewater treatment.

Norton Rose Fulbright partner and global co-head of transport Christine Ezcutari, who led the team advising on the deal, said: 

“It was a privilege to be able to work on the financing for this impressive cruise ship, which is not only the largest to ever be built in Italy but incorporates a range of cutting edge technologies.”

Christine Ezcutari was supported by counsel Paolo Pinna and associate Constance Ollat in Paris, and partner Arturo Sferruzza from the firm's Milan office.

Norton Rose Fulbright’s shipping team offers the full range of legal services needed by today’s shipping companies. Its specialist shipping lawyers advise on areas ranging from complex structured finance, export credit finance and anti-competitive actions to ship conversion disputes, offshore disputes, the latest environmental regulation and the impact of blockchain and the digitalisation of the whole industry.