The Costa Group said it had signed an agreement with Fincantieri to build two ships for Costa Asia brand, with final contracts expected to be executed in 2016. The ships, each with 135,500 gross tons and carrying 4,200 guests, will be built in Italy. They will be specifically designed for the Chinese market, joining the fleet in 2019 and 2020.
“Costa Asia new ships are part of a memorandum of agreement signed by Carnival Corporation & plc with Fincantieri to build four new ships by 2020 at the company’s shipyards in Monfalcone and Marghera, Italy,” the company said in a statement.
Carnival group said in the spring it would order five vessels at Fincantieri and four at Meyer in the course of this year. The company has since unveiled the Meyer orders, with two ships to be built at Papenburg and two for Turku.
Thanks to the new agreement announced today, the Costa Group has eight new ships on order with a total capacity of 45,000 berths (four for the German brand Aida Cruises; two for the Italian brand Costa Cruises; two for Costa Asia), bringing the total capacity of the fleet to 110,000 berths.
“We are happy to continue our long-standing strategic partnership with the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. This new investment is expected to create wealth and employment for the Italian country as a whole. As for Costa Diadema, the latest Costa ship built by Fincantieri and the best expression of Italy’s finest, also Costa Asia ships will feature an innovative Italian style design. In addition this new agreement will allow us to continue significantly build the Chinese cruise market, which will become the second largest in the world at the end of the decade” - said Michael Thamm, CEO of the Costa Group.
The Costa Group was the first cruise company to enter the Chinese market back in 2006. Three Costa ships are currently deployed in China and Asia year-round: Costa Atlantica, Costa Victoria and Costa Serena. A fourth ship, Costa Fortuna, will be added in April 2016.
