On 15th March Fincantieri announced that its subsidiary Vard Holdings limited (VARD), a Norwegian company active in the design and building of offshore and specialized vessels, has signed an historic letter of intent with the French ship owner Ponant, a subsidiary of Artemis group (holding company of the Pinault family), for the construction of four small-sized luxury cruise vessels.

The letter, subject to several conditions including satisfactory ship owner financing, marks the entrance of VARD in the cruise shipbuilding sector. The four luxurious exploration cruise vessels, to be built by VARD group’s production network, will be 128m long, 18m wide, and will be approximately 10,000gt.

The new builds will have a cruise speed of 15 knots and accommodate 180 passengers on board (92 cabins) with a 110-member crew. The deliveries are scheduled in Norway in the period of summer 2018 to the summer 2019.