Viking ship deal switched to Italy

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has pulled off a coup by snatching a deal to build two cruise ships from rivals STX France. The two luxury vessels, with a capacity of just under 1,000 passengers, have been ordered by Viking Ocean Cruises, whose sister river cruise outfit has just launched four new boats.
Viking originally announced the deal with STX just before Christmas, but it appears financing arrangements broke down, at which point the state-owned Italian company stepped in with an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Yet only two weeks ago, a Fincantieri spokesman was strongly denying rumours they had intervened to take over the deal, and last week Viking appeared to have pulled out completely.
A statement issued by Viking today says: “The parties have reached an agreement on the financial and technical aspects of the deal and expect to sign the contract shortly.” Fincantieri confirmed that agreement had been made on financing.
The first ship is scheduled for delivery in late 2014, the second a year later. The agreement also includes an option for a third vessel.
Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking, said: “We started Viking River Cruises to offer great destination experiences, and we are excited to bring this same destination focus back to ocean cruising. The ship designed by Fincantieri has a fresh and innovative design well suited to deliver the award-winning Viking experience.”
Fincantieri will this year complete construction of Carnival Breeze, Costa Fascinosa, and Oceania’s Riviera. The company is building Royal Princess and a sister ship for Princess Cruises, and a vessel to the same design for P&O. The STX yard at St Nazaire will deliver MSC Divina next month, and is completing another ship which was originally ordered by the Gaddafi regime but has now been taken over by the Italian line. The only other ship it has on the stocks is Europa 2, which will be launched by Hapag-Lloyd next year.