Karl WP Beyer November 7, 2018 - The Carnival subsidiary Costa Crociere has been operating successfully in China for a long time. UUnder the name CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping Limited, Carnival started a cruise joint venture with the China State Shipbuilding Corporation. It starts with two old Costa ships. The newcomer is also having two cruise ships built in China for the time being with the assistance of the Italian Fincantieri Group.
Only two percent of the 142 million Chinese outbound travelers took cruises in 2017. The cruise industry is convinced, however, that China has the best chance of becoming the world's largest cruise market. It is only logical for Carnival, the world's largest leisure and travel company, to fly the flag in China with joint venture ships in addition to the activities of individual group companies. In addition, the Costa group deploy two cruise ships specially developed for China in 2019 and 2020. It will start in spring 2019 with the Venice coast.
Carnival Sunshine in front of Grand Turk
The first ship to be brought into the joint venture is the Costa Atlantica. Her sister ship, the Costa Mediterranea, will follow later.
Costa Mediterranea in Venice
The two planned new buildings will be built in Shanghai. The first ship is due to be delivered in 2023. To ensure that there are no unpleasant surprises, the joint venture has secured the assistance of the globally operating shipbuilder Fincantieri SpA who will provide technical and project-related support to the Shanghai shipyard throughout the shipbuilding process and guarantee a technology license for the ship model platform. Carnival Corporation also pledges to use its extensive industry expertise to provide on-site control and support for shipbuilding.
Carnival holds an unspecified minority stake in the joint venture that has just been finalized. The Carnival Group has a total of ten brands and currently 103 ships. All ships have 234.000 lower beds. Another 2018 cruise ships will join the Carnival Group between 2025 and 22.
