Carnival Corporation has expanded its orderbook and is preparing to welcome its largest ships ever.
The cruiseship owner has signed a memorandum of agreement for a trio of ships with Germany’s Meyer Werft and Finland’s Meyer Turku.
Two of the LNG-powered vessels will be built in Finland for Carnival Cruise Line, representing the return of Carnival to the Nordic country after 12 years.
Meyer Werft will deliver the LNG-fuelled units between 2020 and 2022.
The other vessel will be built in Germany’s Papenburg and will be delivered to P&O Cruises UK in 2020.
Arnold Donald, chief executive of Carnival, said: “We are proud to be at the forefront of introducing LNG-powered ships to the cruise industry, working with our partners to achieve shipbuilding breakthroughs like this, that will help us produce the most efficient and sustainable ships we have even built.”
Carnival said the two new 180,000-gt ships to be built in Germany will be the largest in the company’s fleet.
The latest order brings the total number of ships under construction at Meyer’s facilities for Carnival to seven.
Carnival said current newbuildings for subsidiaries AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises will be pushed back from 2020 to 2021 to allow the company to more effectively allocate measured capacity growth across its brands.
The shipbuilding agreements are still subject to several conditions, including satisfactory financing, the company added.
Bernard Meyer, managing partner of Meyer Werft, said: “These new ships will be built in our most modern and environmentally friendly facilities, and we are very proud to design, build and deliver these ships that provide breakthroughs in innovation and for the environment.”
