Carnival Corporation & plc, the US-UK cruise shipping group, said its Chinese joint venture with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) would acquire two ships from Costa Crociere, a fully owned unit of the Carnival group.

“The first of these ships, the 85,861-ton, 2,210-passenger Costa Atlantica, is scheduled to be transferred to the new Chinese cruise line by the end of 2019. Costa Atlantica’s sister ship, the 2,114-passenger Costa Mediterranea, will be transferred at a date still to be announced,” Carnival said in a statement. Both ships were built early in this millennium in Finland.

Earlier, Fincantieri had said the Chinese joint venture company that would be known as CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping Limited had signed firm orders with CSSC to build two ships.