Seabourn has confirmed plans for a fourth mid-scale ultra luxury ship.

To enter service in 2016, the vessel will replace the capacity being lost with the sale of smaller ships Seabourn Pride, Spirit and Legend which will leave the fleet in April 2014 and the following year.

The new ship will be modelled after the line’s three newest vessels, Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn, and Seabourn Quest, and will encompass the features that have made these ships so successful, the line said

Seabourn president Richard Meadows said: “We are pleased to be moving forward with the plans we announced earlier this year to build a fourth ship similar to the highly regarded new design we introduced with Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn, and Seabourn Quest.

“The experience and the amenities offered by these award-winning ships have raised the bar in ultra-luxury cruising.”

Gabriele Cocco, senior vice president merchant vessels at Italian shipyard Fincantieri said: ”We are very pleased to have acquired a new customer like Seabourn and at the same time to have strengthened our historic partnership with the Carnival Group.

“This agreement is particularly important: it strengthens our leadership in the luxury cruise niche and confirms our primacy in the cruise industry.”