Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri wins new order worth around 3.5 bln euros

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has signed a memorandum of agreement with U.S.-based Carnival Corporation to construct five cruise ships, a statement from Fincantieri said on Friday.

The agreement between the two companies said the new ships would be built over the period of 2019 to 2022, but also included options for additional ship-buildings in the coming years.

The agreement was worth around 3.5 billion euros (3.8 billion U.S. dollars), according to Italian analysts.

Fincantieri has built 59 ships for Carnival Corporation since 1990, with another seven ships for the company currently in the order-book.

"In order to continue to stand out successfully from the competition, we must further enhance our in-house process and product competencies," Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono said on Friday.

The new ships will operate in Carnival Corporation's established markets in North America and Europe, as well as in newer ones, such as China.

The Italian shipbuilder teamed up last November with Carnival Corporation and China CSSC Holdings Limited, a division of Beijing-based China State Shipbuilding Corporation, to explore the possibility of joint ventures in cruise shipbuilding for the Chinese market.

Sources familiar with the industry told Xinhua that China is considered by international top players in the sector as a fundamental market expected to see extraordinary development in the next years based on economic growth, increased spending power of Chinese consumers, and growing demand for cruise vacations. Endit