The Costa Group today announced an agreement with Fincantieri to build two new ships for Costa Asia brand, with final contracts expected to be executed in 2016.

The ships will each be 135,000 tons and carry 4,200 passengers. They will be specifically designed for the Chinese market, joining the fleet in 2019 and 2020, said Costa.

Costa Asia new ships are part of a memorandum of agreement signed by Carnival Corporation & plc with Fincantieri to build four new ships by 2020 at the company’s shipyards in Monfalcone and Marghera, Italy. 

Thanks to the new agreement announced today, the Costa Group has eight new ships on order with a total capacity of 45,000 berths (four for the German brand Aida Cruises; two for the Italian brand Costa Cruises; two for Costa Asia), bringing the total capacity of the fleet to 110,000 berths. 

“We are happy to continue our long-standing strategic partnership with the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. This new investment is expected to create wealth and employment for the Italian country as a whole. As for Costa Diadema, the latest Costa ship built by Fincantieri and the best expression of Italy’s finest, also Costa Asia ships will feature an innovative Italian style design. In addition this new agreement will allow us to continue significantly build the Chinese cruise market, which will become the second largest in the world at the end of the decade,” said Michael Thamm, CEO of the Costa Group.