Fincantieri, the listed Italian company that is the world’s largest cruise ship builder, estimates that up to four of five cruise ships will be in service by the end of this year, a significant increase from the levels last month.

The cruise industry continues to experience a significant resumption of activities, with 206 ships in service. This is equal to 57% of global fleet,  from 65 different cruise operators, as of October. 

Citing principal cruise shipping companies, Fincantieri estimated that the number of vessels in service is expected to reach 70% to 80% of their fleets by the end of the year. 

“This relapse benefits from an extremely solid trend in bookings, as pointed out by all main operators, such as Carnival, which announced on its August earnings results higher booking levels for the second half 2022 compared with the same period of 2019, with no reduction on ticket prices,” Fincantieri said in a statement.

“The ongoing focus to create further efficiencies in engineering and production processes, together with the investments carried out in the last few years, allowed the Group to fully ensure the production programs, with six cruise ships delivered in the period, four of which in the sole third quarter,” Fincantieri noted.

Revenue trend in cruise ship building is boosted by the resumption of activities at full speed in the group’s Italian shipyards, with record production volumes despite the safety protocols put in place to face the spread of Covid-19.