The next one will be a record year for Fincantieri. Luigi Matarazzo, general manager of the merchant ship division, in a post on LinkedIn after the company convention held in recent days, said: “2026 will be a challenging year, as we are used to. For the first time in the world, we will deliver 8 cruise ships from 5 different shipyards, we will do 2.6 million hours of engineering, growing further from the 2.4 million of this year. As the Merchant Ship Division, we purchase more than 3.5 billion euros of items from our supply chain that will go on board our ships.”
“Team” is the term Matarazzo chose when he was asked to find a word that represents them at the convention dedicated to Fincantieri managers and executives. “In our work,” he said, “there is no solitary star, there is a team. And it is thanks to the team that every day we do so much, and we do it well. We operate in a very healthy cruise market, with shipowners recording booking levels higher than pre-Covid and a recovery of many segments, from luxury onwards. A positive moment that we have been able to seize, and which we must continue to read and ride through fleet rejuvenation, energy efficiency and the commitment to alternative fuels.”
These 8 new ships set to debut in 2026 are 7 cruise units and a ferry built in Palermo by the group led by Pierroberto Folgiero for the Sicilian Region. In the cruise market, the first new entry on the market will be the Four Seasons I (20,000 gross tons) under construction in Ancona, followed by the Norwegian Luna (156,300 GT) for Norwegian Cruise Line nearing completion in Marghera. The third newbuild to be delivered in Monfalcone next year will be the Mein Schiff Flow (161,000 GT) ordered by Tui Cruises, which will be followed in Ancona, also in the second half of the year, by the Viking Mira (54,300 GT) destined to join the Viking Ocean Cruises fleet. In the summer, it will then be the turn of Explora III (64,000 GT) nearing completion in Genoa Sestri Ponente and operational from mid-year for Explora Journeys (MSC Group), while in the second half of the year the Italian builder will also deliver the Viking Libra in Ancona, again to Viking Ocean Cruises (it will be the world’s first hydrogen-powered cruise ship) and finally the Seven Seas Prestige for Regent Seven Seas Cruises (NCL Group) built in Marghera.
N.C.
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