Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri has delivered the second dual-fuel liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered vessel—Star Princess—that was constructed for U.S.-based cruise line Princess Cruises.
The 178,000 GT newbuilding was handed over to its owner at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard, which is said to be the shipbuilder’s largest production site dedicated to the building of cruise ships. Star Princess joined Princess Cruises’ fleet on September 26, a year after it hit the water for the first time.
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According to Fincantieri, the 345-meter-long and 47-meter-wide cruise ship, which wrapped up sea trials in mid-August this year, is the second-largest vessel ever to be built in Italy.
Star Princess is reportedly also the second ship to be constructed by the company for the cruise line as well as the second newbuild in the Sphere class series. Moreover, as informed, the vessel is the seventeenth unit in Princess Cruises’ line-up up sailing around the world.
Now that it has been handed over to Princess Cruises, the ship will join its sister vessel, the liquefied natural gas-fueled Sun Princess, which was delivered in mid-February last year. Each of the ships can accommodate up to 4,300 passengers.
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In addition to the ability to run on LNG, which could enable the newbuilding to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20-30%, Star Princess is described as having been engineered based on a “next-generation” platform that features several new systems aimed at enhancing its energy efficiency.
As noted, beyond slashing carbon dioxide, the LNG propulsion should allow the cruise ship to cut nitrogen oxides (NOx) by up to 95%, and sulfur oxides (SOx) as well as particulate matter (PM) by virtually 100%.
Over the past few months, aside from the work on the American cruise line’s vessels, Fincantieri has made progress with several other ships.
For instance, at the end of May 2025, TUI Cruises, a joint venture between TUI and Royal Caribbean Cruises, splashed its second LNG-fueled newbuild constructed by the Italian shipbuilding player. As disclosed, the Mein Schiff Flow is a sister ship to Mein Schiff Relax , which was turned over in February.
At the end of June, Fincantieri rolled out the red carpet for the Swiss cruise line Viking’s future-proof ocean-going unit, the nearly 239-meter-long Viking Vesta . In mid-July, Fincantieri marked three milestones for the Switzerland-based shipping titan MSC, having launched the LNG-powered Explora III , held a coin ceremony for Explora IV and a steel-cutting ceremony for Explora V.
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