Italy-based shipbuilding company Fincantieri has announced that it has signed a memorandum of agreement with the American-British cruise company Carnival Corporation & plc for the construction of four new cruise ships with an overall value of about €2.5 billion. The final contracts, subject to several conditions, including satisfactory shipowner financing, are expected to be signed in 2016.
The four units will all be built at the shipyards in Monfalcone and Marghera, with deliveries scheduled in 2019 and 2020. The agreement highlights a long-term program by US-based Carnival Corporation, which has invested through its partnership with Fincantieri over $25 billion in Italy, making it one of the country's largest foreign investors. Fincantieri has built 59 ships for Carnival Corporation’s different brands since 1990, with another 10 ships for the group currently on the company’s order book.