Carnival Corporation could be about to place the biggest cruise ship order in history with 10 new vessels, according to unconfirmed Italian media reports.
The speculation suggests Carnival will place orders equally between Italian ship yard Fincantieri and Meyer Werft in Germany.
Each vessel would be worth up to $800 million each.
The ships are expected to include a new class of megaship for Costa Cruises of around 175,000-tons, according to Cruise Industry News. This compares to newly launched 3,600-passenger P&O Cruises ship Britannia at 141,000 tons.
Other vessels would be divided across other brands based on market demand, including potential new ships to operate from China, where rival Royal Caribbean is taking a leadership position, and German arm Aida.
The huge order would see new ships due for delivery through to 2028, with an announcement possible by as early as tomorrow (Friday).
The release of the information was reportedly put on hold due to last week’s terrorist attack on cruise passengers in Tunis.