Kvaerner signed a deal with Costa Crociere - the Italian joint venture of Carnival Corp and Airtours , to build a 86,000-grt cruise ship. The vessel will accommodate 2,100 passengers and will cost more than $500 million to build. The ship will be built in Helsinki to be delivered in 2003. Kvaerner said it will arrange third party financing to cover the major proportion of costs associated with construction.
The current order book at its Kvaerner Masa-Yards shipyard in Finland now stands at $2.6 billion.