To be delivered in 2022 and built by the Monfalcone shipyard, the as-yet-unnamed cruise ship will be the 249th ship to fly the Cunard flag and become the fourth ship in the current Cunard fleet, joining QUEEN MARY 2, QUEEN VICTORIA and QUEEN ELIZABETH.

Cunard will announce additional details about the new ship starting in 2018. Judging from the artist's impression, the newbuilding is a further evolution of the popular Vista-Class QUEEN VICTORIA and QUEEN ELIZABETH Fincantieri built in 2007 and 2010 respectively.

These Panamax cruise ships have a length of 294m and a capacity of 2,112 guests. The newbuilding's passenger capacity will increase to 3,000. Extra layers of cabin accommodation will be added above the bridge, increasing the gross tonnage from just over 90,000 to 113,000.

The new ship agreement to build a fourth ship for Cunard extends the brand's recent strength and momentum in the marketplace, including attracting crowds of more than one million people to celebrate its 175th anniversary in 2015 and investing the equivalent of USD 172m in the past two years to refurbish the flagship QUEEN MARY 2 and QUEEN VICTORIA.

© Shippax / PR / PHO