Explora Journeys has pushed its first ship's maiden cruise to Aug. 1, departing from Copenhagen, Denmark, saying a delivery delay has occurred because certain building materials did not meet safety requirements.
The Explora I had previously been scheduled to depart England on July 17.
Explora, MSC Group's first luxury cruise line, last week said the Explora I's delivery from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri had been pushed back without specifying why.
The line on July 10 said it was "only recently made aware" of issues with the materials, which the Financial Times reported were faulty fire-resistant panels.
"As the safety of our guests and crew is of the utmost priority, we took the immediate and responsible decision not to take delivery, even though this meant that we had to cancel the ship's first sailing to ensure she can be delivered with the highest safety standards and will have all appropriate safety certifications in place," Explora said in a statement.
According to the Financial Times, Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri was first informed at the end of May that the panel supplier, Helsinki-based Paroc, had lost its safety certification and that this week the panels were being recalled, prompting MSC and Fincantieri to cancel the launch of the Explora I with one day's notice.
MSC added that it is working with Fincantieri to replace the affected materials.
"The work is currently underway, and the shipbuilder is discussing with the relevant classification societies to obtain the ship's safety certificate as soon as possible, so that she will be ready for delivery on 24 July and her first sailing on 1 August from Copenhagen," Explora said.
The Financial Times report indicated that there were potentially dozens of ships sailing with the faulty panels, but MSC said that "other ships afloat with the same insulation tiles are not automatically implicated."
MSC said that Chantiers de l'Atalantique, the shipyard that built the MSC Euribia, is working with the classification society and maritime industry experts to analyze in detail and perform testing as needed on the materials used on that ship and will "develop any necessary action plans if required."
A Carnival Corp. spokesperson said that while the Paroc A60 insulation in question was installed on one ship in its fleet, that material passed all required certifications at the time of installation and delivery.
"We are aware Paroc insulation materials failed to meet standards in a recent test. While we have seen no indication of any issues with the insulation actually installed on our ship, we are looking into the test results and discussing them with the relevant flag state regulators and authorities. We will, of course, take whatever action necessary to ensure the continued safety and security of our guests and crew," the spokesperson said. "It is important to note that our global fleet is equipped with advanced fire detection and suppression systems -- with built-in redundancy for added security -- to mitigate risk in the unlikely event of a fire."