Fincantieri and Viking have entered an agreement for six further ocean ships expanding their partnership until 2027, the Italian shipbuilder said in a statement on Tuesday. The deal confirms "the extraordinary demand in the sector" and Fincantieri's "worldwide leadership in the sector, the statement said.
The new cruise liners are scheduled to be delivered in 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, "subject to specific conditions," Fincantieri said.
“We are proud to have trusted a start up which has proved highly successful. In 2012, in fact, the partnership with this prestigious ship owner began with two ships and as of today we nearly count 16 units," said Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono.
"It’s an all-time record, the highest number of ships from one single ship owner for a shipyard, which makes Viking, already the worldwide first river cruise company, the leader also in the small ship ocean cruise market,” Bono said.
To date, Fincantieri ha delivered four cruise ships to Viking. The further six units in the order book will be delivered respectively 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 (2 units) and 2023, Fincantieri said.
Viking’s current ocean fleet includes ships with exclusively all-veranda staterooms, a gross tonnage of about 47,800 tons with accommodation for 930 passengers in 465 cabins.
