MIAMI (October 26, 2012) – Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE:
CCL; NYSE: CUK) today announced it 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 has been signed with Italian shipbuilder
Fincantieri for the construction of a 2,660-passenger ship for Holland
America Line scheduled for delivery in fall
2015 and a 4,000-passenger ship for Carnival Cruise Lines scheduled for
delivery in winter 2016.
The total cost for the two vessels combined,
which includes the U.S. dollar denominated contract price and all
owner’s costs, will be approximately $195,000 per
lower berth. 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 ms 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.
Including the newbuilds announced today, Carnival Corporation & plc
currently has nine new ships scheduled for delivery – two for 2013, two
for 2014, three for 2015 and two for 2016. Arison also noted that the
addition of new tonnage is expected, to some extent,
to replace existing capacity reductions from possible sales of older
ships.
The
memorandum of agreement with Fincantieri continues the company’s
longstanding and successful relationship with the Italian shipbuilder,
which dates back more than 20
years.
Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, said, "These additional orders bring
the total number of ships we have built
for Carnival Corporation & plc to 61 and confirm Fincantieri's
world leadership in the cruise ship sector even at a time of slowing
demand." Bono added, "We view these orders as a very positive
development for the Italian economy and the global cruise industry."
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in
the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe,
Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America
Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises,
Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and P&O
Cruises (Australia).
Together, these brands operate 100 ships totaling approximately 203,000
lower berths with nine new ships scheduled to be delivered between March
2013 and March 2016. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates
Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading
tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New
York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the
only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the
FTSE 100 indices.
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