Page 52: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2026)

Delivered last

November,

Disney Destiny is the sixth vessel built by Meyer

Werft for Disney

Cruise Line.

Image courtesy Meyer Werft

Judicious subcontracting of steelwork fabrication to lower- the entire planning and production process from digital design cost areas has assumed increasing importance within Fincan- to advanced automation and the deployment of collaborative tieri’s business strategy, where the focus on heightened pro- robots. This embraces 4D dynamic production planning to ductivity and throughput capacity is attended by more intense unlock bottlenecks through proprietary AI algorithms and de- cost control oversight. The current plan provides for greater signs prepared for full life-cycle optimisation. reliance on Romania for supply of certain hull sections, with Following a period of great uncertainty and profound change contemporaneous investment in dedicated home yards. This at Meyer Werft, culminating in acquisition by the State of includes the purchase of a new jumbo crane at the Monfalcone Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) and the Federal Government, shipyard near Trieste. the German yard landed a prestigious and extensive contract

In respect of the group’s cruiseship workload, Fincantieri’s towards the end of 2025. The deal with MSC Cruises signi-

Capital Markets Day presentation in Milan during February ? ed the attraction of a new and in? uential customer, viewed as this year referred to “a growing commercial pipeline, both in a long-term strategic partner. terms of quantity and quality, with improving margins and The order entails four 180,000gt newbuilds to be delivered new orders expected in the coming months, which will ex- at yearly intervals from 2030 onwards, with options on ? fth tend the visibility of the backlog beyond 2036.” A tranche of and sixth ships appended to the deal. Designated the New contracts quickly followed, including three ships for various Frontier class, featuring what are described as next-genera- brands of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) Holdings, plus a tion environmental technologies, each vessel will provide for fresh intake of business from Viking Cruises, encompass- a maximum passenger complement of 5,400. Realisation of ing two 378-passenger expedition-type vessels plus options a six-ship series will keep the Papenburg yard running at full on two more 1,000-passenger capacity ships from the long- capacity through 2035, with commensurate bene? ts for the running Viking Star series. German advanced maritime manufacturing ecosystem.

Both NCL and Viking had already augmented the Fincant- MSC Cruises has hitherto met ? eet development require- ieri orderbook during 2025, and at scale in both cases, through ments via Meyer Werft’s arch-rivals in Italy and France. The respective commitments to four 227,000gt vessels, command- commitment to existing business relationships is undimin- ing delivery positions in 2030, 2032, 2034, and 2036, and four ished, as MSC’s transaction with Meyer had been preceded more Viking Ocean sisters for 2030/2031 handovers. shortly before by the assignment of contracts to Chantiers de

Fincantieri’s vision for ‘The shipyard of the future’ spans l’Atlantique for seven and eighth vessels in the MSC World- 52 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • April 2026

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