Carnival and Fincantieri have formalized contracts for the construction of five cruise ships



Saturdays the crocieristico group Carnival Corporation and the navalmeccanico group Fincantieri have undersigned the preannounced contracts the December December for the construction of four new cruise ships to which the contract for the realization of a fifth unit has joined, store clerks who have a total value of beyond three billions of euro ( on 31 December 2015). The announcement is given on board of Koningsdam, the new ship of Holland America Line of the Carnival group delivered thursday to the society owner of a shipping company and introduced saturday near the Fincantieri plant of Marghera.

To sign contracts, to the presence of the Minister of Infrastructures and the Transports, Graziano Delrio, they have been Micky Arison, chairman of Carnival Corporation, and Giuseppe Bono, managing director of Fincantieri.

Two ships of 135.500 tons of tonnage and an ability to 4.200 passengers will be constructed by the Italian shipbuilding group in the plants of Monfalcone and Marghera for the Costa Crociere company of the American group Carnival, to which they will be delivered in 2019 and 2020. The two new ships will be planned purposely for the Chinese market and destined Costa Asia, the brand of the group Coast that work in Asia. The order for Costa Asia will carry to 14 the number total of ships of the group Coast constructed by Fincantieri in Italy, for a total investment of beyond six billions of euro.

Others two new ships are destined to the brand Princess Cruises and one to brand P&O Cruises Australia. Also these three units will be realized in the plants of Monfalcone and Marghera in period 2019-2020 and, once entered in the respective fleets, will operate in the emerged crocieristi markets, between which China, Australia and in other regions. With 143.700 tons of tonnage and an ability to 3.560 passengers, the ships for Princess Cruises will be the fourth and the fifth unit of the class "Royal Princess", after Royal, Regal and Majestic, all constructed near the Fincantieri plant of Monfalcone, the last one of which in delivery in 2017. The ship for P&O Cruises Australia, so as those for Costa Asia, will have a tonnage of 135.500 tons and will be able to accommodate 4,200 passengers.

In occasion of the signature of contracts the managing director of Fincantieri, Giuseppe Bono, has rimarcato that this result "is in absolute one of the more important never reached from an Italian industry" and - has added - "these years, that has contributed to make of Fincantieri an excellence recognized world-wise for diversification and quality of its produced ones, with a workload without equal return us proud for the profuse engagement in all in terms of duration, than us it assures full load development and a strategic perspective of long period. These orders will continue to appoint to a job thousands and thousands of people and will afford to a myriad of small and averages enterprises of having, through of we, an outlet for the export. Today - it has concluded Bono - we consolidate ulteriorly the partnership with the friends of Carnival, than in the years it has afforded to our groups to grow and that it is still strengthened with a strategic agreement unprecedented through which we look to the future in order to develop with new projects and to receive the new challenges that the market imposes".

Fincantieri has evidenced that essential for the finalizzazione of the agreement it has been once again "the support of the system of export credit that is under responsibility of Bank of Deposits and Loans (Cdp) and that constitutes for Fincantieri, so as for every Italian exporter, an irrenounceable dowel for the efficiency of the Italy system".

"Today - the managing director of Carnival Corporation has commented, Arnold Donald - it is a day particularly moving for our group, our partner and our hosts. We have celebrated in fact the delivery of the wonderful Koningsdam and also signed with Fincantieri contracts for the construction of five new cruise ships of next generation. These ships will support our objective to exceed the expectations of the customers, being created a level of entertainment completely renewed and offering to our hosts the possibility to live experiences that they will remember for the remainder of their life and will share also with others. To contribute to the full satisfaction of our hosts answers to our plan of potenziamento of the fleet and is an important part of our strategy of increase measured in the time, that it more includes the substitution of ships dated with newer units, larger and more innovative in a span of time much specific one".

The managing director of the group Coast, Michael Thamm, has emphasized that "this new investment will carry benefits and occupation to the entire Country. As already happened for Costa Diadema, the last ship of the fleet Coast constructed from Fincantieri and symbol of the "best of Italy" - Thamm has explained - also the ships for Costa Asia will be planned with an innovative Italian design. Moreover this new order will afford us to continue to grow the market of the cruises in China, that it will become according to market to the world in the end of this decade".