News

Carnival to order ship for Holland America and Princess Cruises

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 20 January 2017 20 January 2017

Carnival Corpration & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group, has signed a memorandum of agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri S.p.A. to build two cruise ships with final contracts expected to be executed in early 2017.

“The two new ships are designated for the company’s Holland America Line and Princess Cruises brands. With the new agreement, Carnival Corporation now has 19 new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2017 and 2022,” the company said in a statement.

Holland America Line’s ship will be built at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Marghera, Italy, with an expected delivery in 2021, and the ship for Princess Cruises will be built at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone, Italy, shipyard with an expected delivery in 2022.

Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc said: “Using our strategic fleet enhancement plan to introduce new ships is an important part of our measured capacity growth strategy, which includes replacing less efficient ships with newer, larger and more efficient vessels.”

Holland America Line’s new 99,500-ton, 2,660-guest ship will be its third “Pinnacle” class vessel, following the design of the line’s newest and largest ship, ms Koningsdam, and its sister ship, Nieuw Statendam, scheduled for delivery in November 2018.

Princess Cruises' new 145,000-ton ship will carry 3,660 passengers and will be its sixth "Royal" class vessel, featuring the successful design platform used on Royal Princess, Regal Princess and Majestic Princess, the world’s first ship designed specifically for the China market and scheduled for delivery in March 2017, as well as its sister ships – the two yet-to-be-named vessels also under construction by Fincantieri scheduled for delivery in 2019 and 2020.

Genting Dream to reposition to Singapore in December

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 20 January 2017 20 January 2017

Dream Cruises, the premium market unit in the Genting Hong Kong group, said Genting Dream will be home ported year-round in Singapore starting from 3 December 2017. This marks a first for Singapore to host a brand-new and large-scale 151,300 grosstonne cruise ship year-round.

Genting Dream was built in Germany last year, she will soon be a calling at more than 10 ports in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam during 2018. Beginning 3 December to the end of March, Dream Cruises will offer appealing range of two nights week-end cruises and alternating five night nights Sunday cruises from Singapore to destinations in the Straits of Malacca and in the Java Seas.

From April to October 2018, new itineraries will offer new destinations in the South China Sea and the Java Sea, giving passengers another new reason to cruise.

The significant growth in the Asian cruise industry over the recent years has presented new opportunities for the region, and Dream Cruises aims to be a pacesetter in Singapore by being the first cruise liner to offer inspirational luxury, which is Asian at heart and international in spirit, the company said in a statement.

Vard signs letter of intent for expedition cruise ship worth NOK1.0 billion

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 16 January 2017 16 January 2017

Vard, the Norwegian specialist shipbuilder in the Fincantieri group of Italy, said it has signed a Letter of Intent for the design and construction of an expedition cruise vessel for an undisclosed international cruise company.

“Developed in close cooperation with the customer, the luxury vessel will be about 145 meters long and 20 meters wide, with accommodation for 220 passengers. The hull of the vessel will be built by Vard’s shipyard in Tulcea, Romania. Delivery is scheduled from one of Vard’s Norwegian yards in 2019,” the shipbuilder said in a statement.

The contract price is expected to be approximately NOK1.0 billion. The parties have a common intention to enter into a firm contract within 1Q17, subject to several conditions being met, including satisfactory financing, Vard added.