Float-out, coin ceremony and steel cutting signal MSC Group’s ultra-luxury ambitions.
The shipyard cranes in Genoa were busy this week, not just lifting steel.
Explora Journeys, the ultra-luxury ocean travel brand backed by the MSC Group, staged what can only be described as a maritime triple play at Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente shipyard, celebrating three major construction milestones in one afternoon.
In shipbuilding terms, that’s a pretty serious day’s work.
Explora Journeys – Coin Ceremony EXPLORA V
The occasion marked the float-out of EXPLORA IV, the coin ceremony for EXPLORA V, and the steel cutting of EXPLORA VI, bringing the brand another step closer to its ambitious plan to operate six ultra-luxury ships by 2028.
For those keeping score in the cruise industry’s quiet arms race at the luxury end of the market, Explora Journeys is moving quickly and deliberately.
Two ships are already sailing. Another launches next year. And four are currently taking shape in Genoa.
That’s momentum.
The moment the fleet becomes real
The ceremony brought together a who’s-who of maritime leadership, including Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of MSC Group’s Cruise Division, Anna Nash, President of Explora Journeys, and Pierroberto Folgiero, Chief Executive Officer of Fincantieri.
Local officials and shipyard teams, the people who actually build these floating palaces, were also front and centre.
For Nash, the moment marked a turning point in the brand’s short but fast-moving history.
“For the first time, all six ships in our fleet are either in service or under construction a defining moment as we bring the ‘Ocean State of Mind’ to life on an even greater scale,” Nash said.
“These ships realise the Aponte-Vago family’s vision of an experience where the ocean itself becomes the destination inviting wellbeing, discovery and a deeper connection with the ocean.”
It’s a phrase the brand often uses, Ocean State of Mind, and while it may sound poetic, the strategy behind it is quite practical.
Explora Journeys is positioning itself somewhere between private yacht lifestyle and luxury hotel at sea, aiming squarely at travellers who enjoy the finer things but may never have considered a cruise before.
In other words, the target audience is not the typical cruise passenger.
Explora Journeys Steel Cutting Explora VI Group
Luxury travel with a horizon
The brand’s latest global campaign, “Explore the Ocean State of Mind,” launched in New York last month and reinforces that positioning.
Created by McCann Paris and directed by award-winning filmmaker Jonas Lindstroem, the campaign deliberately steps away from traditional cruise imagery.
No buffet queues.
No deck games.
Instead, the ships are presented as five-star floating hotels, where the ocean itself becomes the destination.
It’s a subtle but important shift and one that reflects how the luxury cruise sector is evolving.
High-end travellers today want space, design, privacy and immersive travel experiences.
Explora is betting that those expectations translate just as well at sea as they do on land.
Shipbuilding traditions still matter
While the strategic messaging may be modern, shipbuilding traditions remain firmly intact.
The coin ceremony for EXPLORA V saw two godmothers take part: Captain Serena Melani, representing Explora Journeys, and Alice Gallo from the Fincantieri shipyard.
Explora Journeys – Float out EXPLORA IV Ship
The tradition of placing commemorative coins beneath a ship’s keel dates back centuries and is believed to bring luck to both vessel and crew.
Captain Melani, incidentally, knows the ships better than most.
She served as the first Master of EXPLORA I and EXPLORA II, helping guide the brand through its early voyages, and will take command again when EXPLORA III launches.
Meanwhile, Cristina Bacigalupo, representing Fincantieri’s outfitting workshop, acted as godmother for the technical launch of EXPLORA IV, a moment that celebrates the work of the shipyard’s craftsmen.
And craftsmen they certainly are.
A €3.5 billion statement of intent
Explora Journeys’ six-ship fleet represents a €3.5 billion investment, part of MSC Group’s broader commitment to Italy’s maritime industry.
Add the four MSC Cruises ships already built by Fincantieri, and the group’s investment in the yard climbs to around €7 billion.
That kind of long-term partnership matters.
Shipbuilding is one of the most complex manufacturing industries on the planet, and Italy, particularly Genoa and Trieste, remains one of its historic centres.
For Fincantieri, projects like Explora help maintain both expertise and employment.
For MSC Group, it guarantees ships built with the design precision Italian yards are famous for.
Next up: EXPLORA III
The spotlight now turns to EXPLORA III, scheduled for delivery ahead of schedule in July 2026.
Following delivery, the ship will embark on a Mediterranean Prelude Journey before its official naming ceremony on 1 August at MSC’s new cruise terminal in Barcelona.
After that, the fleet expansion continues steadily.
• EXPLORA IV and V enter service in 2027
• EXPLORA VI joins the fleet in 2028
By the end of the decade, Explora Journeys will operate a six-ship fleet purpose-built for the ultra-luxury market.
Not enormous.
But deliberately exclusive.
Sustainability enters the conversation
Luxury travel is evolving, and sustainability is now part of the conversation, whether operators like it or not.
Explora Journeys, as part of the MSC Group Cruise Division, has committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The fleet’s design reflects that direction.
EXPLORA III will be the first ship capable of operating on liquefied natural gas (LNG), a transitional fuel that can later accommodate bio-LNG and synthetic LNG.
These fuels have the potential to reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80 per cent.
The ships are also equipped with shore power connectivity, allowing the engines to shut down while docked at ports with electrical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, MSC is studying fuel cell technology that can convert LNG into hydrogen, a development that could significantly reduce emissions.
EXPLORA V will be built ready for a retrofit.
EXPLORA VI will carry the technology from launch.
A quiet reshaping of luxury cruising
The cruise industry rarely stands still.
Yet in the luxury segment, change tends to happen quietly, ship by ship, itinerary by itinerary.
Explora Journeys appears to be doing exactly that.
With two ships already sailing and four more under construction, the brand’s once-ambitious vision is starting to look very real indeed.
And judging by the activity at the Genoa shipyard this week, the horizon for luxury travel at sea is getting closer.
by Michelle Warner – (c) 2026.
Read Time: 5 minutes.
About the Writer.
Michelle Warner has always carried stories the way others carry passports lightly, faithfully, and with purpose. She learned her craft in newsrooms, shaping sentences with care, before swapping deadlines for departures as a flight attendant with some of the world’s great airlines. Years aloft sharpened her eye for character and deepened her fondness for the small, dignified rituals of travel, the quiet kindness of strangers, the poetry of arrival, the patience learned between time zones.
Now grounded by choice, Michelle has come home to writing with the same calm authority she once brought to turbulent cabins. Her prose blends an editor’s discipline with a traveller’s wonder, tinged with humour and reverence for the golden age of travel. Each piece feels like a handwritten boarding pass, gracious, observant, and unmistakably alive.
