Carnival Corporation orders new ships

Carnival Corporation & plc has reached an agreement for the construction of two new cruise ships – a 99,000-ton ship for its Holland America Line brand and a 135,000-ton vessel for its Carnival Cruise Lines brand. A memorandum of agreement was signed with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for the construction of a 2,660-passenger ship for Holland America scheduled for delivery in fall 2015 and a 4,000-passenger ship for Carnival scheduled for delivery in winter 2016. The memorandum of agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including execution of shipbuilding contracts and financing. The Holland America ship, which will be a new class of vessel for the line, will enter service five years after the last Holland America ship, the Nieuw Amsterdam, delivered in 2010. The Carnival Cruise Lines vessel, also a new class of ship, will be launched four years after the introduction of Carnival Breeze, which debuted in spring 2012. The timing of capacity additions for these brands is similar to the five-year span between upcoming new ship introductions for both Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises (UK), as previously announced. “Today’s order continues the company’s strategy of introducing two to three ships per year across the corporation’s 10 brands. We have strategically timed the introduction of these new ships to allow ample time for those brands to further grow their passenger base and absorb the new capacity while minimizing revenue yield dilution in the remainder of their existing fleets,”said Micky Arison, chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc.