In a boost to the provincial economy the MSC Poesia docked in Cape Town last week during its four-month voyage around the world.
The visit to the Mother City waters on Tuesday 20 February follows similar tours to Durban and Gqeberha.
The South African leg of the trip forms part of the 121-day itinerary that includes 52 destinations across 31 countries worldwide. While Poesia has been around for 15 years, South Africa is a new addition to the trip.
The vessel with 2 200 passengers on board allowed the passengers to explore the Mother City for the day and an overnight stay. The majestic vessel departed for Walvis Bay, Namibia, on Wednesday 21 February. It will then head off to Brazil.
Built 15 years ago, the 293,8-meter vessel is the second of a series of four Musica class vessels. It can accommodate 3 300 passengers with 1 000 crew.
The Poesia, which is Italian for poem, boasts 13 passenger-accessible decks, eight with cabins, six dining options, 16 lounges and bars and three swimming pools among others.
During an interaction with the media and guests for a tour of the cruise vessel, Captain Roberto Leotta said the world cruise began in January in the idyllic fishing village of Portofino in Italy, picking up passengers in nearby Marseille in France and Barcelona in Spain before sailing the Mediterranean Sea.
Commenting on their first visit to South Africa and Cape Town he said: “There is big excitement to visit the city. Cape Town is famous around the world for being a beautiful city. We are excited to explore what it has to offer.”
Ross Volk, managing director of MSC South Africa, said they have strong commitments to South Africa. “Our crewing office, which promotes young South Africans going on board, looked to try and achieve 5 000 South African crew members on board our vessels around the world by late 2020s.”
Volk said that the vessel making its way to South African ports exposes the country to the rest of the world. “It is important for us to ensure that we bring vessels like this to Cape Town, Durban and PE to ensure that we promote the economic development of SA and place it on the map of world cruises.
James Vos, Mayco member for economic growth, presented the captain with a plaque of Table Mountain and welcomed them to the city. “For MSC to choose Cape Town and South Africa makes us proud as an industry. For ships to come here and spend money in our city in our harbour stimulates supply and demand for Cape Town businesses. Thank you for making Cape Town your top choice. We will see many more of these large cruise liners making their way to Cape Town.”
During his speech, Vos said Cape Town is now ranked number one globally as a catamaran-building city.
“With the hard work of our talented team, we are now building at least one catamaran for export every working day of the year.”
He lauded the city’s flourishing boat-building industry and unveiled plans for its continued expansion.
Vos emphasized the significant impact of marine manufacturing, attracting over 25 billion rand in investments and generating nearly 12 000 jobs since 2014.
