NewCarnival, China Merchants set up cruise shipping joint venture

Miami-based Carnival, the world’s biggest cruise line, today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with state-owned China Merchants in Shekou, Shenzhen to explore the possibility for two joint ventures.

One entity will order new ships to be designed and built in mainland China, in addition to plans to acquire existing cruise ships.

A second potential joint venture will see the two firms collaborate to develop turnaround and transit ports within and around China beginning from the Prince Bay Cruise Terminal in Shekou currently being developed by China Merchants while also developing other cruise ship destinations across China and Northern Asia.

The partnership follows Carnival’s recent efforts to court the mainland China market, which is projected to have 4.5 million passengers by 2020 from around 1 million at present, according to the Ministry of Transport.

New cruise ships are likely to be built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), which signed an MOU with Carnival in October to potentially set up a shipbuilding joint venture, with technical help from Italian cruise ship builder Fincantieri.

Fincantieri, which counts Carnival as one of its largest customers, also signed an MOU with the US firm last year to form a shipbuilding entity that could become a three-nation effort to help CSSC- and China- break the record in constructing cruise ships.