The story
From the origins to the restructuring of the 1980s
Fincantieri's roots date back to the 1930s, when the Italian State, through IRI, acquired the main shipbuilding centres: Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico (CRDA), Odero-Terni-Orlando (OTO), Navalmeccanica and Ansaldo. In March 1948 these entities were merged into Finmeccanica, with the exception of OTO, which left the shipbuilding sector in 1949, selling its plants in Livorno and Muggiano to Ansaldo.
Fincantieri was officially founded on 29 December 1959 as Società Finanziaria Cantieri Navali – Fincantieri S.p.A., a financial company controlling the main Italian shipyards, bringing together all the IRI shareholdings previously held under Finmeccanica. In 1966 Italcantieri was established to directly manage some shipyards. In 1973 IRI acquired the Cantieri Navali del Tirreno Riuniti of the Piaggio group, with shipyards in Riva Trigoso, Muggiano, Ancona and Palermo. The company also owned Grandi Motori Trieste, which constructed marine diesel engines, but this was sold to Wärtsilä in 1999.
An important step took place in 1984, when Fincantieri ceased to be a mere financial holding company and became an operating company, incorporating its subsidiaries, including Italcantieri. At this stage, the company took the name "Fincantieri-Cantieri navali italiani S.p.A.", with headquarters in Trieste, and its activities were organized into four divisions: merchant shipbuilding, naval vessels, repairs/conversions and engines.
In 1992 the Destriero, a fast aluminium vessel built at the Muggiano shipyard, completed a 3,106-nautical-mile Atlantic crossing without refuelling, travelling at an average speed of 53.09 knots (98.32 km/h) and setting an absolute speed record that remains unbeaten.
International expansion and listing on the stock exchange
In the mid-1990s the market saw a recovery in shipbuilding, particularly in the cruise ship segment, where Fincantieri became a world leader, with a market share exceeding 25 per cent since 1995. In 2002, following the liquidation of IRI, ownership passed to Fintecna and subsequently to Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. With the disappearance of Intersind, the organization representing companies of the state-owned IRI and EFIM groups, Fincantieri also joined Confindustria.
In 2005 the Mega Yachts division was established, focusing on the design and construction of large luxury vessels, and in 2012 it delivered the first MY Serene, a 134-metre yacht winner of the Superyacht Design Award.
The 2008 Italian Government Economic and Financial Planning also provided for Fincantieri's listing on the Borsa Italiana, but in light of the global financial crisis, the company shelved the project until 2014.
Global expansion accelerated with the acquisition on 1 January 2009 of the US company Manitowoc Marine Group, now Fincantieri Marine Group, from its parent company The Manitowoc Company, Inc., which consisted of two shipyards in Wisconsin, including Marinette Marine, which built the first Freedom-class littoral combat ship. Fincantieri also purchased from Manitowoc Marine Group a topside repair yard in Ohio and one production plant in Wisconsin, making it one of the leading mid-sized shipbuilders in the United States for commercial and government customers, including the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard.
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In December 2012 Fincantieri acquired STX OSV Holdings Ltd, the largest builder of vessels supporting oil and natural gas extraction and production activities, for €900 million. The acquisition, launched by Fincantieri Oil&Gas for a total of €455 million for the purchase of 50.75%, was completed for €900 million when the takeover bid was launched, financed through own funds and a group comprising Banca IMI, BNP Paribas, Banca Carige and UniCredit, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The loan was guaranteed by SACE, and the transaction closed in April 2013. This transaction marked Fincantieri's entry into the offshore shipbuilding sector. STX OSV was renamed Vard, from varde, a typical stone tower used in Norway as a navigational beacon along the coast. Through its subsidiary Vard Holdings Limited, Fincantieri acquired the Canadian company STX Canada Marine, specializing in naval design and engineering, for €8 million. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after these acquisitions the group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world.
Also in 2013, the company resumed the project to list on the Milan stock exchange and was admitted to the Borsa Italiana on 12 June 2014: the listing process began on 16 June 2014 and ended on 27 June 2014. To celebrate the event, a ship's bow was installed at Palazzo Mezzanotte in Milan, appearing to emerge from the building itself. The debut took place on 3 July 2014.
On 9 October 2014, on the sidelines of the launch of the submarine Pietro Venuti (S 528) at the Muggiano shipyard, Finmeccanica, now Leonardo, and Fincantieri signed an important cooperation agreement for the construction of military vessels. The agreement provided for cooperation in research and innovation activities, as well as the possibility of creating a network of common suppliers for basic products and components.
On 21 November 2014 Fincantieri announced that it had signed major agreements with Carnival Corporation in the cruise ship sector and China State Shipbuilding Corporation in the shipbuilding sector for the construction of cruise ships involving technology transfer. In March 2015, Fincantieri won its biggest ever independent order from Carnival Corporation & plc in a 4 billion euro deal commissioning the company to build five new cruise ships.
Strategic acquisitions (2017–2021)
In May 2017, in a consortium with Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Trieste, Fincantieri won the tender for the sale of 66.66% of STX France, following the bankruptcy of its South Korean parent company Stx Offshore & Shipbuilding, with an offer of €79.5 million. The transaction was opposed by the French Government, which considered the STX France shipyards strategic at national level and declared its intention to proceed with the nationalization of the company, of which it already held the remaining 33.34%, under the pre-emption right provided for in previous agreements with the STX holding company.
After months of negotiations between Chigi Palace and the Élysée Palace, on 27 September 2017 Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister of Italy, and Emmanuel Macron, President of France, signed the final agreement in Lyon for the sale to Fincantieri of the majority stake in STX France, confirmed by the purchase agreement signed between Fincantieri and the French State on 2 February 2018. However, the integration was slowed by an investigation by the European antitrust authorities, which were concerned about the group's possible dominant position in the global cruise ship market. Finally, in January 2021, due to the global economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the failure to close the regulatory files, the governments of Italy and France jointly announced the cancellation of the transaction.
Despite the failed acquisition, binational cooperation materialized in the defence sector with the creation of Naviris in 2019, an equal joint venture between Fincantieri and Naval Group. Based in Genoa with a research centre in Ollioules, Naviris manages joint projects such as the modernization of Horizon-class vessels and the development of the European Patrol Corvette (EPC).
In 2017 Fincantieri Infrastructure S.p.A. was also established, based in Verona, dedicated to the design, construction and assembly of steel structures for large-scale projects, such as bridges, stadiums and other infrastructure. The division's most significant work was the reconstruction of the Viadotto Genova San Giorgio (formerly the Morandi Bridge), completed between 2019 and 2020. In 2021 the division expanded further with the acquisition of Inland, a company based in Gorizia and specialized in metal carpentry, and with the creation of Fincantieri Infrastructure Opere Marittime, dedicated to the construction of ports, quays and protective barriers.
In March 2018, Fincantieri established Fincantieri Services USA, a subsidiary based in Miami, Florida, USA. In August of the same year, together with MerMec, Fincantieri was close to acquiring 98.54% of Vitrociset: however, the agreement collapsed the following month when Leonardo, a minority shareholder of Vitrociset with 1.46%, decided to exercise the pre-emption right provided for by the company's articles of association, thereby acquiring the company.
In 2020 Fincantieri temporarily suspended its activities at Italian shipyards due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Despite the slowdown caused by the health emergency, the company completed the deliveries scheduled for the year, including that of the cruise ship Enchanted Princess, the 100th for the company.
New direction after 2020
In response to changing geopolitical conditions, from 2020 Fincantieri expanded its activities in the defence and underwater sectors, as well as in the study and development of propulsion solutions using alternative energy sources.
In 2023 the company led the creation of the National Underwater Dimension Hub (it:Polo Nazionale della Subacquea) in La Spezia, dedicated to promoting research and development of solutions for the underwater sector. Also with the aim of strengthening itself in this area, Fincantieri launched a number of strategic partnerships and carried out targeted acquisitions. In February 2024 it acquired Remazel, a company operating in the offshore and underwater sectors, while in January 2025, as part of a framework for strengthening European Defence, including naval defence, it took over from Leonardo the naval armaments business of Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei, renamed WASS Submarine Systems, a historic company active in the construction of advanced underwater defence systems such as torpedoes and sonar.
In April 2024 the new Sun Princess was launched at the Monfalcone shipyard, Fincantieri's first ship powered by liquefied natural gas. The following year Fincantieri, in partnership with the Norwegian company Viking, presented the world's first cruise ship powered entirely by hydrogen stored on board. Construction of the vessel, named Viking Libra, is to be completed by the end of 2026 at the Ancona shipyard. In the following June, the order for the construction of the 4th new generation submarine of the Italian Navy was confirmed, for a total order value of 500 million euros.
On 18 July 2024, Fincantieri announced a partnership with Hera, for the optimized management of industrial waste produced on construction sites. This will allow Fincantieri to achieve ESG objectives within its shipyards. On 5 August, The Italian Navy has ordered a new patrol vessel worth approximately 236 million euros from Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, the joint venture active in the defence business between Fincantieri (51%) and Leonardo (49%).
On 5 February 2025, Fincantieri received from Norwegian Cruise Line a maxi contract worth 9 billion euros for four cruise ships with almost 226 thousand gross tons each to be delivered in 2030, 2032, 2034 and 2036 respectively.
Also in 2025 the Minerva project officially began for the production of mini nuclear reactors for ships and military submarines and the construction of further nuclear-powered combat units, in response to a call by the Ministry of Defence and in collaboration with the Italian Navy. Also in 2025 the Navis Sapiens project was presented, combining artificial intelligence, big data and advanced connectivity to create a new generation of ships capable both of autonomously processing all onboard data and of communicating in real time with the shore and other fleet units.
From Wikipedia’s article on Fincantieri, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5