P&O CRUISES is to expand its Caribbean and Mediterranean programmes after placing a $2bn order with shipyards in Europe and Japan for five new ships.
The new vessels will be built in time to enter service between October 2002 and May 2004.
Four of the ships will be for P&O’s Princess Cruises subsidiary, while the fifth will join the P&O fleet, operating out of the UK. When completed, the new order will bring the number of ships in the combined P&O/Princess fleet to 16, with Princess operating 11 ships and P&O operating five.
P&O managing director Gwyn Hughes said: “The cruise market has been growing and we anticipate that it will continue to grow.
“We need to make sure we have modern ships and we want to strengthen our presence areas where we don’t have that much exposure, such as the Caribbean and Mediterranean.
“In both of these areas, our market share is relatively small and there is room for us to expand.”
He said Princess will operate ships year-round in the Caribbean, and the P&O ship will operate in the Mediterranean.
It will carry out a similar itinerary to Princess’ ship Grand Princess, currently the largest ship afloat.