Major cruise shipbuilder Fincantieri has signed a ‘sustainability linked’ revolving credit facility with Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo (IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division) for up to €500 mill.
The three-year loan is aimed at covering the financial requirements of cruise ship construction.
It is defined ‘sustainability-linked’ because it is linked to the achievement of two specific key performance indicators (KPIs): A sustainability score level, assigned every year by S&P Global with the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) questionnaire, plus the energy efficiency of the cruise ships delivered each year (EEDI Index).
In addition, Fincantieri’s Ancona shipyard held the keel laying ceremony for ‘Seven Seas Grandeur’, the third luxury cruise ship that the yard is building for Regent Seven Seas Cruises, a brand of the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
Her delivery is scheduled for 2023.
During the ceremony, three custom-minted coins were placed onto the keel of the ship, two representing one each of the sisterships: ‘Seven Seas Explorer’ and ‘Seven Seas Splendor’.
The two coins were replicas of those placed on the first two ships, delivered by the Sestri Ponente (Genoa) shipyard in 2016 and Ancona in 2020, respectively, while the new coin included the cruise line’s 30th anniversary logo.
Similar to the first two vessels of her class ‘Seven Seas Grandeur’ will be 55,500 gt with accommodation for only 732 pax, with among the highest staff-to-guest ratio in the industry.
