Fincantieri was awarded an order from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. for the construction of 4 new generation cruise ships with an option for additional 2, for the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) brand. The value of each ship is approximately 800 million euros, with one delivery per year from 2022 to 2025, stretching to 2027 in case of confirmation of the option.
Passenger ship Norwegian Escape - Image courtesy of NCL (for illustrative purposes only)
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and Sace, together with a pool of export credit lenders, have played a crucial role for the success of the order and the ship owner’s decision, giving Fincantieri the chance to offer an appealing technical, commercial and financial package, still subject to some conditions.
These ships will form the backbone of the future NCL fleet, being about 140,000-tons, almost 300 meters long, and accommodating 3,300 guests. The order is based on a prototype project developed by Fincantieri, which enhances the consolidated features of NCL’s signature offering of freedom and flexibility, qualified by an innovative configuration for an enhanced passenger experience. In addition, focus was set on energy efficiency, with the twofold aim of optimizing consumption at sea and reducing environmental impact, compliant with all the most recent regulations on this matter.
“This new class of ships will continue Norwegian Cruise Line brand’s legacy of introducing meaningful innovation to the cruise industry”, said Frank Del Rio, President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “This order continues to highlight our disciplined newbuild program, extends our growth trajectory well into the future, enhances our already attractive earnings profile and drives expected long-term returns for our shareholders”.
Commenting the announcement, Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, said: “This outstanding result allows us to include a new prestigious client in our portfolio, which confirms Fincantieri’s ability to develop with a flexible approach leading-edge solutions for every segment and demand of the modern cruise industry. We are very proud of the project for these ships: we developed it internally and we presented it to the shipowner, which appreciated it so much to order an entire class”. Bono concluded: “Different stakeholders of the export chain have contributed decisively to achieve this goal and they have gained our full recognition. The remarkable value of the order has to be added, obviously, on top of these factors: the Group will benefit from it under economic and workload terms and the order will further extend the utilization horizon of our shipyards, not comparable with any other industrial segment. We are also honored to significantly support the growth of our country’s economy, which, as we all know, requires a considerable effort to regain its role in the world market”.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is one of the top cruise companies in the world. Besides NCL, it operates the Regent Seven Seas Cruises brand, to which Fincantieri has delivered in Sestri Ponente (Genoa) the ultra-luxury ship Seven Seas Explorer in 2016 and is now building a sister ship with delivery expected in 2020 in Ancona, as well as Oceania Cruises, for which the group has built in the yard of Sestri “Marina” and “Riviera”, respectively in 2011 and 2012.
Source: NCL