Malaysian holding company Genting Hong Kong Ltd has signed a deal for two mega cruise ships with the Lloyd Werft Group for its Star Cruises brand.
The deal signed on Tuesday in Wismar, Germany also includes an order for eight river cruise vessels for Crystal Cruises.
Star Cruises has designed the “Global Class” ships, each measuring 201,000 gross tons with 5,000 lower berths.
The ships are to be delivered between 2019 and 2020 and their design is tailored to the needs of the Chinese passengers, making them the first cruise ships purpose-built for the contemporary Chinese cruise market, Genting claims.
“We are pleased that Genting chose Lloyd Werft Group for the construction of their new vessels as the company has built all but one of its new cruise ships in Germany for the Star, Dream and NCL brands due to the company’s desire for quality-built cruise ships, ” says Rudiger Pallentin, the managing director of Lloyd Werft Group .
“We have the ability to tap into the complex cruise ship subcontractor industry in Europe, many of whom are centered in Germany and we can build cruise ships without major uncertainties in delivery and pricing.”
In January, 2016, Genting Hong Kong Limited exercised the call option to buy the remaining 30% in German shipbuilder Lloyd Werft.
The deal follows that from last year when Star Cruises Singapore Investment Holding Pte, an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of Genting Hong Kong, and Petram Beteiligungs GmbH, Ehlerding Beteiligungs GmbH and BLG Logistics Group AG & Co. KG entered into a share purchase agreement allowing Genting to take a majority stake in Lloyd Werft.
Before the agreement was announced Genting Hong Kong had signed a letter of intent with Lloyd Werft to build three of Crystal’s Exclusive Class ships, with the first of these polar class vessels expected for delivery in late 2018.