Costa Cruises will launch two more ships designed specifically for the Chinese market, following the placement of a major order by its parent company, Carnival Corporation.
The deal will see Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri develop two 4,200-passenger ships for Costa, which will be delivered in 2019 and 2020. As well as the Costa ships, Carnival has ordered two vessels for Princess Cruises and one for P&O Australia.
“We are happy to continue our long-standing strategic partnership with the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri,” said Costa’s CEO, Michael Thamm. “This new order 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.”
Costa was the first international cruise company to enter the Chinese market back in 2006 and it currently bases three ships in China and Asia year-round: Costa Atlantica, Costa Victoria and Costa Serena. A fourth ship, Costa Fortuna, will be added later this month.
The two new ships will be the 13th and 14th Costa vessels built in Italy by Fincantieri, with a total investment worth more than EUR6 billion (US$6.8bn).
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