Fincantieri sigla un ordine con Carnival Corporation per tre mega navi da crociera
Le nuove navi, che verranno assegnate al marchio Carnival Cruise Line, saranno le più grandi mai costruite da Fincantieri e in Italia
23 luglio 2024 – Fincantieri ha siglato un accordo con Carnival Corporation & plc per la progettazione, l’ingegnerizzazione e la costruzione di tre nuove navi da crociera per il brand Carnival Cruise Line. Il valore dell’accordo, soggetto a finalizzazione del finanziamento e ad altri termini e condizioni standard da completarsi nella seconda parte dell’anno, è considerato molto importante.
L’ordine riguarda una nuova classe di navi alimentate a gas naturale liquefatto (LNG) con una stazza lorda di circa 230.000 tonnellate, le unità più grandi mai costruite da Fincantieri e in un cantiere italiano, con consegna prevista rispettivamente nel 2029, nel 2031 e nel 2033. Con oltre 3.000 cabine per gli ospiti, le nuove unità potranno trasportare quasi 8.000 passeggeri a piena capacità.
Queste nuove navi saranno inoltre dotate di tecnologie avanzate per migliorare l’efficienza energetica, la gestione dei rifiuti e la riduzione delle emissioni, in modo da minimizzare ulteriormente l’impronta ambientale della società. Nel corso della sua storia, Fincantieri ha consegnato in totale 75 navi ai differenti brand di Carnival Corporation, con un’altra unità attualmente in costruzione presso il cantiere di Monfalcone, e 15 navi da crociera per il marchio Carnival Cruise Line.
Pierroberto Folgiero, Amministratore Delegato e Direttore Generale di Fincantieri, ha dichiarato: “Con grande orgoglio annunciamo che Fincantieri ha siglato un contratto con partner storico come Carnival Corporation per la costruzione di tre navi da crociera di nuova generazione. Questo ordine è un balzo in avanti nella nostra strategia di innovazione, confermando il nostro impegno verso la sostenibilità e l’efficienza energetica. La collaborazione con Carnival Corporation rappresenta un’ulteriore conferma della leadership di Fincantieri nel settore crocieristico mondiale unendo tradizione, avanguardia tecnologica e Made Italy, come da nostro Piano Industriale”.
“Con Fincantieri stiamo creando una piattaforma che innoverà su tutta la linea, offrendo un’esperienza impareggiabile agli ospiti e incorporando i più recenti progressi tecnologici per ridurre al minimo il nostro impatto ambientale”, ha dichiarato Josh Weinstein, CEO di Carnival Corporation & plc. “non vediamo l’ora di svelare una nuova classe di navi incredibili della Società leader nelle crociere nel mondo”.
Carnival Corporation Orders Three Additional Ships for Carnival Cruise Line, Introducing a New Class of Ship that will Deliver Even More Fun to the Most Guests at Sea
World’s largest cruise company finalizes agreement with Fincantieri for three new landmark cruise ships scheduled for delivery in 2029, 2031 and 2033
New ships to take Carnival Corporation’s LNG-powered fleet to 16 ships
MIAMI, July 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — With consumer demand for cruise vacations at historic levels, Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world’s largest cruise company, today announced an order for three new ships for its namesake Carnival Cruise Line brand for a new class of vessel, at nearly 230,000 gross registered tonnes. The agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri provides for the design, engineering, and construction of these liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ships, which will be delivered in the summers of 2029, 2031 and 2033, respectively.
“We are proud to be known as America’s cruise line with tremendous guest loyalty and an outstanding team that has enabled us to deliver memorable vacations to over 100 million guests,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “For this next generation ship, we are focused on creating innovative guest experiences that will take Carnival Cruise Line into the future with new FUN features and excitement that we know our guests will LOVE.”
With today’s order, there have been five new ship orders for Carnival Cruise Line announced in 2024. Earlier this year, Carnival Corporation placed its first newbuild orders in five years for two more Excel-class ships that will join the Carnival Cruise Line fleet in 2027 and 2028. The company also recently announced a series of strategic shifts to further optimize the composition of its global brand portfolio and to increase guest capacity for Carnival Cruise Line, transferring a total of five vessels from sister brands to the Carnival Cruise Line fleet between 2023 and March 2025.
“We are doubling down on the growth of Carnival Cruise Line – our highest-returning brand – to keep up with the incredibly strong demand we continue to see for the world’s most popular cruise line,” said Josh Weinstein, chief executive officer of Carnival Corporation & plc. “At this point, our newbuild pipeline is just one delivery in each of 2025, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2031 and 2033. We continue to take a disciplined approach to growth, strategically directing new capacity to the areas of highest demand at a rate of one to two new ships per year.”
According to Weinstein, this order will take the company’s overall measured capacity growth between 2025 and 2033 to an average of approximately 1.5% per year. “This gives us the headroom to strategically provide new capacity to the brands in our portfolio like Carnival Cruise Line, which provide outsized returns while continuing to execute against our responsible capital strategy, using our strong free cash flow over the next several years to improve our balance sheet, significantly reduce our debt, and continue to transfer value from debt holders to shareholders,” he said.
With over 3,000 guest staterooms, the new ships will be the largest in the Carnival Corporation global fleet and will be able to deliver fun to more guests than any ship in the world when carrying almost 8,000 guests at full capacity. Once delivered in 2033, Carnival Corporation will have a total of 16 LNG-powered ships – including eight Carnival Cruise Line ships – making up almost 30% of Carnival Corporation’s global capacity and delivering immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions. The new ships will also feature advanced energy efficiency, waste management, and emission reduction technologies to further reduce the company’s environmental footprint.
“We are excited to join forces with Carnival Cruise Line to debut a new class of ship, which will be the largest cruise ship ever constructed by Fincantieri and the largest ship ever built in Italy. We are proud of the role Fincantieri has played in helping Carnival Corporation secure its position as the world’s largest cruise company and look forward to continuing this success story together,” said Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO, Fincantieri.
Design details and itinerary information for the new Carnival Cruise Line ships will be announced in the future.
This order is contingent upon financing, which is expected to be completed later this year.
About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest global cruise company, and among the largest leisure travel companies, with a portfolio of world-class cruise lines – AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises (Australia), P&O Cruises (UK), Princess Cruises, and Seabourn.