Wednesday, October 24, 2018 - 11:33 by ce-press
On September 26, the City of Le Havre in partnership with MSC Cruises welcomed part of the legendary liner, France, back to the city.
Luc LeMonnier, mayor of Le Havre and president of CODAH, and Patrick Pourbaix, managing director France, Belgium and Luxembourg MSC Cruises, unveiled the tip of the bow of France in Le Havre, port home to a ship that has marked the maritime history of a whole country and the city.
LeMonnier commented: ”France is deeply rooted in the collective memory of the French people and even more so in that of the people of Le Havre. To have in our city a vestige of this mythical liner, a piece of our heritage, is highly symbolic.”
While Pourbaix said: “France, a legendary liner embodying luxury and prestige, was built on the Atlantic shipyards. It is this same know-how that illustrates the excellence of the French naval industry to which MSC Cruises is particularly attached … we have already celebrated last year on its 500th anniversary, a milestone in our development: the christening of MSC Meraviglia, the first of 13 new vessels generation we expect by 2026.”
France was the flagship of Compagnie Generale Transatlantique from 1962 to 1977, a symbol of major transatlantic crossings but also the decline of the maritime link between Le Havre and New York as civil aviation came of age.
