NCL Orders Two Megaships from Aker Shipyards with Option for Third

NCL Corp. has ordered two 150,000-ton, 4,200-passenger cruise ships, with an option for a third, from Aker Yards SA, the cruise line said last week.

The $2.8-billion contract is dependent on financing and approval from shareholders at parent company Star Cruises. The first two vessels would cost $941.5 million and the third, $896.7 million. The price tag renders in about $224,000 per passenger berth for the first two ships.

The project is being referred to as F3, a reference to the fact that this will be the third generation of Norwegian Cruise Line´s “Freestyle Cruising” ships.

With deliveries expected in 2009 and 2010, the new class would be the fourth largest in existence. Only Royal Caribbean´s 220,000-ton Genesis project, its Freedom Class ships, and Cunard´s Queen Mary 2 are bigger in terms of tonnage.

Including crew, the F3 ships will carry up to 6,400 people and will be 1,066 feet long, approximately the height of the Eiffel Tower.

The new ships will be built at Aker´s newly acquired yard in Saint-Nazaire, France, a departure from NCL, which has had used German shipbuilders Meyer Werft to construct its last three vessels.