(By Balaseshan) Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) (NYSE: CUK) said it has an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri 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.
The construction of the 2,660-passenger ship for Holland America Line is scheduled for delivery in fall 2015, and a 4,000-passenger ship for Carnival Cruise Lines is 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 about $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 was 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.
Including the new builds announced today, Carnival currently has nine new ships scheduled for delivery -- two for 2013, two for 2014, three for 2015 and two for 2016. The addition of new tonnage is expected, to some extent, to replace existing capacity reductions from possible sales of older ships.
CCL is trading down 1.50% at $38.08 on Friday, while CUK trades down 0.92% at $39.76.