The Letter, subject to several conditions including satisfactory ship owner financing, marks the entrance of VARD in the cruise shipbuilding sector. The four luxurious exploration cruise vessels, to be built by VARD Group’s production network, will be 128 meters long, 18 meters wide, and will be approximately 10,000 gross tons. The new builds will have a cruise speed of 15 knots and accommodate 180 passengers on board (92 cabins) with a 110-member crew.
The deliveries are scheduled in Norway in the period summer 2018 to the summer 2019. The ships will be arranged with the very latest environmentally friendly technologies and with high class of luxury facilities on board. They will be able, due to their small size, to reach ports and destinations inaccessible to larger vessels. The interior fittings will be designed on a “human scale” with the utmost attention to detail. In the past Fincantieri has already built four vessels for PONANT, “Le Boréal”, “L’Austral”, “Le Soléal” and “Le Lyrial”, delivered respectively in 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2015. Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, stated:
“The agreement announced today is of the utmost importance for the entire Fincantieri Group. Our shipyards dedicated to the construction of cruise ships, in fact, would not have been able to accept these new vessels for several years, given the current workload. Thanks to the synergies developed with Vard we have been, instead, able to meet the needs of Ponant, with which we have a longstanding partnership. Thanks to this strategy we can moreover strengthen our leadership in the small and mid-size luxury vessels segment, as well as provide for the supply of fundamental ship parts built in Italy, like cabins and other areas aimed at the passengers”.VARD is 55.63% controlled by Fincantieri which fully consolidates its financial results.
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