The Saint-Nazaireyard will build two firm ships for EUR 1.5bn, MSC said.

The first ship isdue in the first half of 2017, with the second in the first half of 2019.

The contractswill provide 16m working hours for the French shipbuilder.

The order hasbeen on the cards since February, with a vessel size of around 160,000 gt cited. Passengercapacity will be about 4,000 people.

The