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The first steel was cut last Saturday
(September 9, 2006) for MSC Fantasia at the Aker France Yard at
St. Nazaire. The 133,500-ton ship will be delivered in May,
2008.
The first plate is ready for cutting at left. MSC Fantasia is known to the yard as simply A33. Interestingly, the French yard printed "A33 First Steel Cut" on the plate in English, even though most of the people there were French and Italian. |
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MSC CEO Pierfrancesco Vago explains the cutting process which is just about to take place. |
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The cut steel is used to build the sub-blocks and blocks of the ship, which are lifted into place in the drydock and welded together to form the vessel. MSC Fantasia will be comprised of 67 blocks (shown at left), some of them exceeding 600 tons (in weight), and those are comprised of approximately 600 sub-blocks. |
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The steel plate is submerged into water to keep it cool, and the computer-controlled blowtorch cuts the steel underwater. |
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Vago and Jacques Hardelay, Managing Director of Aker Yards France examine the first piece of steel cut from the plate. |
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When the cutting is done, the finished product is raised out of the water. At left is the first plate that was cut to be used in MSC Fantasia. |