NCL Corporation Ltd. announced on November 1 that it has confirmed the contracts with Aker Yards S.A. of France to build two new third generation Freestyle Cruising cruise ships, with an option for a third, by lifting all subjects in the contracts, including financing, completion of the design specification, and Star Cruises shareholder approval.The vessels will be delivered from Aker Yards in Saint Nazaire, France in 2009 and 2010, with the optional third sister ship for delivery in the first quarter of 2011. As announced on September 7, 2006, the contract price, comprising two firm ships and one option, is ¬2.17 billion, or approximately $2.8 billion at today’s exchange rate.

The ships, totaling 12,600 berths, will be built for the company’s Norwegian Cruise Line brand (NCL) and will each be approximately 150,000 Gross Tons and 4,200 passenger berths. The contract price for each of the first two ships is ¬735 million, and for the optional third ship is ¬700 million.

Commenting on the confirmation of the contracts, NCL’s President and CEO Colin Veitch said, “With the confirmation of the contracts with Aker Yards, we are one step closer to our vision of introducing the new third generation of Freestyle Cruising ships and to satisfying our goal of having the youngest, most modern fleet in the industry by 2010.”

With the project name “F3″, the new ships will incorporate a world of new features and will represent NCL’s third generation of Freestyle Cruising ships, a further evolution of NCL’s progressive dismantling of the structure, regimentation, and constraints of the traditional cruise experience. Details of the ship’s design will be released closer to delivery. The cabin mix will be the richest of any NCL ship to date, and will include the feature that 100% of outside staterooms will have private balconies. In total, the ship will have 1,415 balcony staterooms and suites.