Oceania option doubtful

Italian state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri, which is already struggling with declining workloads, faces another setback with industry sources suggesting Oceania will not exercise an option for a third cruiseship.

Two years ago, Oceania placed a $1bn order with Fincantieri for two luxury cruiseships with an option for a third. The 65,000 gt ships, with capacity for 1,260 passengers, were due to be delivered in 2010 and 2011, with the option due the following year if confirmed.

A spokesman for Oceania said the two vessels would go ahead as planned at Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente yard. He added that, with the shipbuilder now hoping to float out the ‘Marina’ in February, work on the second, as-yet-unnamed, vessel could then begin. He declined to comment on the option for the third vessel, which officially expired yesterday.

Well-placed industry sources, however, said Oceania appeared increasingly unlikely to go ahead with the third vessel, citing unspecified problems in construction of the ‘Marina’.

Falling workloads along with high raw material costs are already eating into Fincantieri’s bottom line. Earnings came in at just ?9m ($13.2m) for the first half of the year, down from an already poor ?15m in the same 2008 period, despite a 15% increase in revenues to ?1.6bn over the same period.

The company plans to lay off temporarily 1,000 workers by the end of the year and has made no secret of its fears that further layoffs may be necessary before an order upturn arrives.