The line will add a third Meraviglia Plus-class vessel due to be delivered in 2023.

The ship, which will cost €900 million, will now see the MSC fleet grow by 13 ships by 2026.

MSC also revealed the name of its second Meraviglia Plus ship, MSC Virtuosa, at a ceremony at STX France’s Saint-Nazaire shipyard earlier today (June 14).

The event was held to mark three major ship building milestones: the steel-cutting ceremony for Virtuosa; the coin ceremony of MSC Grandiosa; and the float-out of MSC Bellissima.

For the first time in Saint-Nazaire’s history, three cruise ships belonging to a single cruise brand are under simultaneous construction at the shipyard.

Bellissima will be christened in Southampton on March 2, 2019 in a ceremony attended by more than 2,000 guests.

The ship will remain in the city for three days during which more than 3,000 UK and Irish travel partners and guests will be given the chance to see it.

Antonio Paradiso, the line’s UK and Ireland managing director, told TTG this week Bellissima’s naming ceremony would be a “the best yet” for MSC with “an extremely UK-driven” feel.

Bellissima will be the largest cruise ship ever christened in the UK and the first of MSC’s fleet to feature the line’s digital personal assistant, Zoe.