Fincantieri and Carnival Corporation finalize the contracts for a total value exceeding 3 billion euros
Following the historical agreement of March 2015 and the memorandum of agreement of last December, Fincantieri, leader in cruise ship design and construction, and Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise company, have finalized the contracts for the construction of five next-generation passenger ships.
The historical contracts finalized today envisage one further unit compared to the memorandum of agreement of December and mark the most important goal reached by the two Groups in the last years, having a total value which exceeds 3 billion euros.
Crucial, once more, for the finalization of the agreement, the supporting of the export credit system lead by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Cdp). This support represents for Fincantieri, like for every Italian exporter, an essential element for the efficiency of the “Italian system”.
Two of the new ships will be built for the Costa Crociere brand Costa Asia, other two for Princess Cruises and one for P&O Cruises Australia. They will all be built at the shipyards in Monfalcone and Marghera between 2019-2020, and will operate on the emerging cruise markets, among which China, Australia and others, once entered in their respective fleets.
The announcement was made on board of “Koningsdam”, the new ship of Holland America Line’s fleet, other brand of the Carnival Group, delivered to the shipowner on March 31, and presented today at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Marghera.
The new units will be specifically designed and developed for each brand and the guests they will serve. The ships for Costa Asia and P&O Australia will be 135,500-ton vessels with the capacity to carry 4,200 passengers on board.
The ships for Princess Cruises will be 143,700-ton and 3,560-passenger ships and will be the brand’s fourth and fifth vessel of the “Royal Princess” class, after “Royal”, “Regal” and “Majestic”, all built at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Monfalcone, the last of which due to delivery in 2017.
