Carnival Corp & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group, says it will pursue strategic growth as stated earlier in spite of weak global economy.

“We remain focused on strategic growth through the addition of two to three new ships per year and expect to continue to return excess cash to shareholders. Based on the above guidance, we estimate our cash from operations will approach $4 billion in 2012, while our capital investment commitment will be $2.6 billion. We expect to generate significant free cash flow in 2012 and beyond, which should provide further opportunities to return cash to shareholders,” said Chhairman and CEO Micky Arison in a statement.

During 2012, the company will introduce three new ships. Costa Fascinosa is scheduled for delivery in April, while AIDAmar and Carnival Breeze are scheduled for delivery in May. Recently, P&O Cruises (Australia) sold Pacific Sun which will leave the fleet in July 2012.