Watson Farley & Williams advised TUI Cruises GmbH (“TUIC”) on the finalisation of the building contracts for two new InTUItion class cruise ships to be built by Fincantieri, Europe’s largest shipbuilder, in Italy.
The new InTUItion class ships will be the largest ships ever constructed in Italy and are scheduled to deliver to TUIC in 2024 and 2026 from the Monfalcone yard in Trieste, Italy. They will be around 161,000 gt each and powered by liquefied natural gas as part of the continued development of TUIC’s long term environmental strategy. They will form an important part of TUIC’s continued fleet expansion plans into the next decade.
Formed in 2009, TUIC is a joint venture cruise line of German tourism and travel company TUI AG and American cruise line operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
The WFW London team advising TUIC was led by Finance Partner Lucy Shtenko, working closely with Dispute Resolution Partner Robert Platt and Tax Partner Richard Stephens.
Lucy commented: “These two InTUItion class passenger cruise ships represent a significant new order for TUIC and the first placed by them with Fincantieri. The conclusion of these two building contracts therefore marks the beginning of an important and exciting venture between TUIC and Fincantieri to design, develop and construct two of the largest ships ever to be built in Italy. To be involved in the negotiation and conclusion of the building contracts for these two newbuilds was a great pleasure for WFW”.
