Fincantieri, the world's largest builder of cruise ships and major builder of large ferries, continues its expansion outside the passenger ship construction sector by two agreements.

The company, which received €787 million worth of merchant vessel orders in 2012, a fall of 34% year on, has agreed to build a 9,000 gross ton oceanographic research vessel to the Norwegian government.

Fincantieri's merchant vessel business area that entails ferries and cruise liners, accounted for 56% of the group's total new orders of €1,39 billion in 2012, the state owned company's annual report for last year shows. However, in the previous year, the share had been higher at 63% of a total of new orders of €1.86 billion.

Earlier this week Fincantieri attended Italy-Russia Business Forum in Trieste, where the company and a Russian counterpart signed an agreement to define plans for a drillship featuring frontline innovation and technology, and the securing of a contract to build a semisubmersible floating platform for the transportation of nuclear submarine reactor compartments.

"Fincantieri will work together with the Krylov State Research Centre, one of the world's most prestigious naval research centres, on a project to develop a drill ship able to operate in particularly difficult conditions, in full respect of the environment and crew safety. This highly advanced vessel will be able to navigate in ice up to 1.5 metres thick and ambient temperatures of -40°C and will have a four-month operational autonomy," the company said in a statement.

In July, Fincantieri and the Krylov Centre signed a framework agreement spanning several sectors, including the offshore one. Just four months later, the two companies are reaping the first major tangible rewards of this undertaking, in the form of the memorandum signed at Trieste.

In December 2012, Fincantieri acquired controlling interest in STX OSV, the Singapore listed builder of offshore services tonnage, and moved on to acquire the company in full, whereby it added a further business area to complement merchant and naval vessels plus megayachts.