STX Europe announced today that MSC Croisières and STX France have entered into a contract for construction of a 140,000 grt cruise ship that is currently being built at the Saint-Nazaire shipyard and that will now be named MSC Preziosa..
The ship was originally ordered by state-owned GNMTC of Libya, but that contract was rescinded by the shipbuilder in June 2011. STX Europe said the reason for canceling that deal was a default of payment by GNMTC.
STX France said then that it was confident that it would be able to find a new buyer for the vessel and construction has continued.
According to a GNMTC press release at the time that it signed the original LOI, the ship will be be "similar to MSC Splendida and MSC Fantasia in design and architecture but greater in size and passengers capacity."
The deal announced today has apparently been in the works a while. French media reports say that the MSC logo has been painted on the ship since last month.