Fincantieri has reported EBITDA of 137 million euro on revenues of 1.9 billion euro for the first six months of 2013, compared to EBITDA of 68 million euro on revenues of 1.2 billion euro for the first six months of last year.

In a prepared statement, the Italian shipbuilder said: “These positive results were obtained in a market environment that remains challenging despite some initial signs of recovery, and have benefited from the first-time consolidation of the Vard Group effective Jan. 23, 2013.”

(Fincantieri completed its acquisition of a controlling interest in Vard (formerly known as STX OSV) in January, doubling the group’s annual revenues to some 4 billion euro, with 21 shipyards on three different continents and 20,000 employees.)

A total of 1.8 billion euro worth of new orders was signed during the first six months of this year, including two ships for the Carnival Group, for Carnival Cruise Lines and Holland America Line.

In addition, in July, two more cruise ships were ordered, for Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Ponant Cruises.

As of June 30, 2013, Fincantieri’s orderbook amounted to 10.9 billion euro.

However, the orderbook is not sufficient to maintain full capacity at the company’s yards and the so-called (Italian) Extraordinary Wage Guarantee Fund will be used for temporary lay-offs at Italian yards where the workload is insufficient.

During the six-month period, Fincantieri also continued its reorganization plan under an agreement with the (Italian) Ministry of Labour and the majority of trade unions. The objective is to achieve what the company called the necessary flexibility of working practices in accordance with market conditions.