Carnival Corp and Fincantieri jointly announced the official signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for a potential cruise ship construction joint venture in the Chinese market.
It represents the next phase of a strategy already started by Carnival in October after agreeing to work with China’s largest shipyard China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC).
The MOU with Fincantieri could lead to a three-way collaborative relationship involving CSSC to support shipbuilding production capacity in China leveraging Fincantieri’s ship design and shipbuilding expertise.
"Building on our groundbreaking MOU signed with CSSC last month, this new agreement with Fincantieri gives us the opportunity to work with our longtime partner to further explore a formal joint venture that could forever change the landscape of shipbuilding in China," Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation said.
"After working diligently to get a deep understanding of China’s aggressive cruise ambitions, we’re collaborating with two of the world’s top shipbuilders in Fincantieri and CSSC to establish a framework for a world-class Chinese shipbuilding venture."
An element of the earlier MOU signed with CSSC allows for the potential establishment of a domestic cruise company, port development, training, supply chain and logistics.
"This agreement with Carnival, to which we are bound by a consolidated partnership, and with CSSC testifies to our determination in pursuing a strategy that increasingly establishes Fincantieri as a global player in the sector," said Fincantieri’s Chief Executive Officer, Giuseppe Bono.
According to Chinese Ministry of Transport estimates, China is set to become the second largest cruise market after the US with up to 4.5 million cruise passengers annually by 2020.
To support demand, Carnival Corp recently announced the deployment of Costa Serena to China next year, joining Costa Atlantica, Costa Victoria and Sapphire Princess.
