Opportunities for a potential joint venture focused on the construction of cruise ships
Carnival Corporation &plc announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Fincantieri S.p.A.,to explore the possibility of a shipbuilding joint venture aimed at accelerating development and growth of the cruise industry inChina.
The MOU betweenCarnival CorporationandItaly-basedFincantierioutlines the framework for evaluating and exploring a potential shipbuilding joint venture for constructing cruise ships for the Chinese market.
Today’s signed MOU withFincantierifollows thenews thatCarnival Corporationand theChina State Shipbuilding Corporation(CSSC),China’slargest shipyard, had signed an MOU in mid October to work together on a potential collaborative joint venture focused in shipbuilding inChina.
Both MOUs involvingCarnival Corporationinclude the possibility of forming a shipbuilding joint venture that could become a three-way arrangement involvingCarnival Corporation,Fincantieriand CSSC. In concept, the potential shipbuilding joint venture would be the first three-nation collaborative effort to build the first-ever, world-class cruise ships constructed inChina.
As part of the possible joint venture,Carnival Corporationwould work closely with CSSC andFincantierito provide its ship design and shipbuilding expertise to create the vision, definition and overall specifications for theChina-built cruise ship for the Chinese market.Fincantieriand CSSC would work closely together in the proposed venture on shipbuilding production capacity inChina. Based onFincantieri’sbroad experience as the largest shipbuilder in the world, the company would provide specialist services to help augment CSSC’s world-class shipyards that have a strong track record of delivering quality industrial vessels.
“Building on our groundbreaking MOU signed with CSSC last month, this new agreement withFincantierigives us the opportunity to work with our longtime partner to further explore a formal joint venture that could forever change the landscape of shipbuilding inChina,” saidArnold Donald, CEO ofCarnival Corporation. “After working diligently to get a deep understanding ofChina’saggressive cruise ambitions, we’re collaborating with two of the world’s top shipbuilders inFincantieriand CSSC to establish a framework for a world-class Chinese shipbuilding venture designed to help accelerate growth and demand for cruising inChinain the years to come.”
Fincantieri’sChief Executive Officer,Giuseppe Bono, said: “This agreement with Carnival, to which we are bound by a consolidated partnership, and with CSSC testifies our determination in pursuing a strategy that increasingly establishesFincantierias a global and reference player in the sector, with strong presence in all the markets that can ensure a future in our business. Indeed, new international scenarios are emerging, and with them new challenges arise in addition to existing ones, and we are glad to contribute together with Carnival to develop the cruise shipbuilding capacity inChinafor the Chinese market. For this reason, our commitment must be ever-stronger in order to enable us to take advantage of such opportunities and continue to be an example of Italian style in the world.”
The Chinese Ministry of Transport(MOT) projectsChinato be the second largest global cruise market after the U.S. in the next several years based on economic growth, increased spending power of Chinese consumers and growing demand for cruise vacations.Chinacould see 4.5 million cruise passengers by 2020, according to the MOT, and is expected to eventually become the world’s largest cruise market. Potential partnerships like the ones being explored between Carnival,Fincantieriand CSSC are aimed at supporting the MOT’s pro-growth cruise policies and the rise of overall tourism inChina.
As part of the MOU signed with CSSC last month,Carnival Corporationwill explore other joint venture opportunities beyond shipbuilding, including the potential to form a domestic cruise company, port development, talent development and training as well as supply chain and logistics. The company will continue to pursue every opportunity to support the growth of cruising inChina, while continuing to provide joyful and memorable cruise vacations for guests already sailing on its brands inChina.
Carnival Corporationjust recentlyannounced its plans for immediate capacity growth inChinain 2015 to meet growing demand. WithCosta Cruisesadding the Costa Serena inChinain April of next year,Carnival Corporationwill be the first global cruise company with four ships homeported inChina. Costa Serena joins Costa Atlantica, Costa Victoria and Sapphire Princess already homeported inChina.Carnival Corporationis growing its leading market presence by 140 percent from 2013 – 2015 and expects to carry 500,000 cruise passengers inChinain 2015.
Source: Carnival