MSC Cruises is set to restart cruises from the UK next week, reports Ship & Bunker.
First cruise to begin
The company’s newest flagship, the MSC Virtuosa, arrived at Southampton on Tuesday in preparation for its first cruse of this year, the firm said in a LinkedIn post. The first cruise will start on May 20.
“Over half of our fleet will return to sea over the coming weeks and welcome back guests under the protection of our industry-leading health and safety protocol,” the company said.
“65,000 guests have spent their holiday on one of our ships since August of last year.”
Cruise demand to return
The absence of the cruise industry from the global bunker market — typically taking up about 4% of global demand — has been a significant blow to some ports that rely on these ships for much of their sales.
Demand from cruise ships is unlikely to return to normal levels this year, but looks set to increase rapidly as COVID-19 travel restrictions are eased.
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Source: Ship & Bunker
