Carnival Corporation has picked long-term partner Fincantieri to build a new cruiseship for its Cunard brand.
The vessel is due in 2022 from the Monfalcone yard, the US company said. No price has been revealed.
It has not been named yet, but will join the 149,000-gt Queen Mary 2 (built 2003), 90,000-gt Queen Victoria (built 2007) and the 91,000-gt Queen Elizabeth (built 2010) in the Southampton-based company's fleet.
This will be the first time since 1998 that it has had four vessels in service.
Carnival now has 18 new ships scheduled to be delivered up to 2022.
"We are very pleased to announce a fourth ship for our immensely popular Cunard brand, which is also one of the most legendary brands in the entire vacation industry," said Carnival CEO Arnold Donald.
"While today's news helps drive Cunard's overall strategic growth plans, we also look forward to launching this next-generation cruiseship to help meet increasing global demand and entice even more travelers to explore the Cunard experience."
Donald added: "Fleet enhancement is an important part of our ongoing goal to exceed guest expectations. This includes replacing less efficient ships with more efficient vessels over time as part of our managed capacity growth."
Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono said: "We have built 63 ships for Carnival Corporation, representing today almost two-thirds of the company's fleet, with nine more ships to come in the coming years.
"A cooperation which can be defined as historical, based on relationships of mutual respect and trust."
