Cruise coup for Ingalls

Following an announcement earlier in the year that it was planning to quadruple its passenger capacity within the next seven to ten years, American Classic Voyages (AMCV) has finally signed a Letter of Intent with Ingalls Shipbuilding for the construction of two cruise ships, each valued at $400 million. The contract contains options for an additional four US-flagged vessels.

According to AMCV, it is expected that the final design and construction contract will be signed by April 1999, and the first 71,000g vessel will enter service late in 2002. The panamax vessels will have a length of 256m and a passenger capacity of 1,900. They will be operated by AMCV subsidiary American Hawaii Cruises on an Hawaiian inter-island service.