G8 summit to be held on the MSC Fantasia

[mercedes]

Looks like world leaders – President Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, et al – will be accommodated on the 3,300-passenger MSC Fantasia in July for the G8 summit.

The Italian government is hosting, with the meeting to be held on the Sardinian island of La Maddalena. The announcement a cruise ship will be used for the Group of Eight is attributed to Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, speaking in Brussels Friday.

The actual meeting is scheduled for a former US Navy submarine base on the island, which was being renovated for the event (but has been the subject of a controversy involving environmental impact). The confab is scheduled July 8-10.

Sophia Loren is Godmother of the 133,000-ton MSC Fantasia, flagship of the Italian line’s fleet, which was launched in 2008. Presumably, if they are onboard, the world leaders will occupy the ship’s fancy Yacht Club suites.

Of course MSC Cruises USA President and CEO Rick Sasso had no comment on any of this. According to the MSC website, the ship is scheduled to be cruising from Barcelona on a Mediterranean itinerary that week.

The summit involves the U.S., U.K., Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, France and Canada. Climate change and the world’s economy are among discussion topics.