by Ana Figueroa
Last updated: 10:40 AM ET, Mon July 23, 2018
Princess Cruises has announced a memorandum of agreement for two new dual-fueled cruise ships. The vessels will be built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri S.p.A. on a next-generation platform. Delivery is set for late 2023 and spring 2025.
The new ships will be Princess' first to be fueled primarily by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Considered one of the industry's cleanest-burning fossil fuels, LNG will reduce air emissions and other pollutants. The new ships will also be the largest by capacity in the line's fleet.
"This revolutionary platform for next-generation, LNG-powered cruise ships will introduce innovative design and leisure experiences driven by the future vacation and lifestyle trends of our guests, further evolving the already best-in-class Princess Cruises experience we deliver today," said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises. "We look forward to collaborating with Fincantieri to bring our vision for this next- generation premium cruise ship into service," added Swartz.
The two ships will be 175,000 gross tons and will accommodate approximately 4,300 guests. Additional design details, features and amenities will be announced at a later date.
"We are proud to extend our long-established partnership with Princess Cruises, a brand we have been tied to since our return to the cruise ship building industry in 1990. After so many years, we are ready to enter, together, a new era of this industry, increasingly aimed at reducing even more of our environmental impact. We proudly do this with an all-time record project, both in terms of size and technology. We believe that there are no more significant milestones than these to reaffirm our market-leading position. This builds upon the solid partnership between our country and Carnival Corporation -- the largest foreign investor in Italy - while at the same time building upon our technological strength and increasing employment," said Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri.
Princess Cruises also has three new Royal-class ships on order with Fincantieri. They include its next new ship, Sky Princess, set for October 2019 delivery. The additional two will debut in 2020 and 2022.
The shipbuilding agreement announced today represents the 10th and 11th next-generation ships on order for Carnival Corporation & plc. In total, the company has 20 ships under contract for delivery between 2018 and 2025.
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