Costa Cruises to build world’s largest passenger ships

Posted on 1 August, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

By Hollie-Rae Merrick

Costa Cruises is to build two 6,600 passenger ships, making the vessels the largest in the world by capacity.

The Carnival Corporation-owned brand will launch the new ships in 2019 and 2020. The two vessels will be built at the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland, and will be the first ships powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

The announcement of the new ships for Costa is a significant statement about the brand’s recovery following the Costa Concordia tragedy in 2012.

The Costa new builds will have 600 more passengers than Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class, which will remain the largest cruise ships in the world by size.

Costa’s ship order is part of parent Carnival Corporation’s multibillion dollar contract with two Meyer shipyards in Finland and Germany.

Carnival’s deal with the shipyards is for a total of nine new ships between 2019 and 2022, including the two newly announced Costa ships.

Michael Thamm, chief executive of the Costa group, said: “These ships will expand the leadership position for the Costa Group, the market leader in all major continental European markets.

“The multibillion dollar contract with Meyer mirrors our strategy to constantly innovate our vacation offers and to deliver an unmatched cruise experience to our guests.”

Neil Palomba, president of Costa Cruises, said: “The two Costa ships are a real innovation for the market, setting new standards for the whole industry: they will be the first green ships powered with LNG and they will offer an extensive number of guest-friendly features.

“The order also confirms that the Costa brand will continue to grow, becoming even stronger and keep on generating a positive economic impact in the main countries where it operates, including Italy.”

Meyer Turku Shipyard starts operations, secures two more options from TUI Cruises

Posted on 23 September, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

Meyer Turku Shipyard

The Finnish state and Meyer Werft have finalised the purchase of the whole share capital of STX Finland Oy from STX Europe Ltd. The company’s new name is Meyer Turku Oy. In addition, Meyer Turku and TUI Cruises have agreed on two new options, for Mein Schiff 7 and 8, for delivery in 2018 and 2019.

The acquisition agreement was announced in early August, subject to German antitrust authority approval. This has now been granted and financing with the commercial banks has also been obtained.

Meyer Turku is constructing Mein Schiff 4, scheduled to be delivered in May 2015, plus a further two more vessels ordered over the summer and due in 2016 and 2017.

Meyer Werft holds 70% of the shares whilst the Finland took a 30% stake through the Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, a fully government-owned investment company. The investors have injected fresh equity into the company.

‘We now have a great chance to make the Turku yard strong again,’ said Jan Meyer, ceo of Meyer Turku. ‘It will not be easy; the competition in our market remains intense.

‘Yet we found a strong and committed team in Turku,’ he continued. ‘In addition there is a lot of potential to learn from each other for the benefit of all our yards in Papenburg, Warnemünde and Turku. We just have to work hard on it and constantly improve our productivity. This is the only way to ensure that we can continue the great legacy of Turku yard for many years to come.’

Jan Vapaavuori, minister of economic affairs, expressed his satisfaction after the purchase. ‘The Finnish shipyards’ know-how is very important for the whole maritime industry in Europe. It is a high-tech industry. We have great expectations from our important investment in the Turku shipyard,’ he noted.

The Turku facility employs 1,350 people and concentrates in building cruise ships, car-passenger ferries and other specialized vessels.

STX Finland shipyard to be sold

Posted on 7 August, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

By Jerry Limone

German shipbuilder Meyer Werft and the Finnish government have agreed to acquire STX Finland from South Korea-based STX Corp.

Meyer Werft will buy a 70% stake, the Finnish government 30%. The acquisition is subject to clearance by antitrust authorities and banks.

STX Finland has a shipyard in Turku; a shipyard in Rauma was sold to the Finnish town earlier this year. The plan is to rename the company Meyer Turku Shipyard.

The Turku yard built the Mein Schiff 3, a TUI Cruises ship that entered service in June. STX Finland is currently constructing the Mein Schiff 4, and TUI Cruises this week reached a deal for two more ships of the same class to be constructed at the Turku yard.

STX also has built many ships for the North American market, including Royal Caribbean’s Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

Meyer Werft’s Papenburg yard built Celebrity’s Solstice-class and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Breakaway-class ships. The yard is constructing Norwegian’s Breakaway Plus and Royal Caribbean’s Quantum-class vessels.