Fincantieri designs and builds merchant vessels, passenger ships, offshore, and naval vessels, and is also active in the conversion and ship repair sectors. The company also owned Grandi Motori Trieste, which constructed marine diesel engines, but this was sold to
Wärtsilä in 1999. Founded in 1959 as Società Finanziaria Cantieri Navali – Fincantieri S.p.A. as a State financial holding company, part of
IRI, the company became a separate entity in 1984. Fincantieri employs a staff of about 10,000 workers at eight shipyards, two design centres, one research centre and two production sites for mechanical components. Another 10,000 people contribute to its supply chains. The shipyards of
Monfalcone (
Gorizia),
Marghera (
Venice),
Sestri Ponente (
Genoa),
Ancona,
Castellammare di Stabia (
Naples) and
Palermo report to the Merchant Ships Business Unit while the shipyards of
Riva Trigoso (
Genoa) and
Muggiano (
La Spezia) report to the Naval Vessel Business Unit. Fincantieri successfully completed the acquisition of Manitowoc Marine Group from its parent company
The Manitowoc Company, Inc. on 1 January 2009, which consisted of two shipyards in
Wisconsin, including
Marinette Marine, which built the first . 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. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard, formerly part of
STX Europe, the Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world. On 2 February 2018, Fincantieri announced an agreement for 50 per cent of
STX France valued at 59.7 million euro. In March 2018, Fincantieri established Fincantieri Services USA, a subsidiary based in
Miami, Florida, USA.
2020s In 2024, as part of a framework for strengthening
European Defence, including Naval Defence, Fincantieri took over from
Leonardo, the naval armaments sector of
Whitehead Alenia sistemi subaquei, to complete the acquisition Fincantieri made a grouping of 10 to 1 of the shares and carried out a capital increase with the issue of new shares worth 400 million euros. The capital increase operation is successfully completed on 11 July 2024. In June 2024, 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 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. On 30 July 2024, in the half-yearly report, Fincantieri confirmed orders for 7.6 billion euros, compared to 2.1 billion in the first half of 2023, and higher than the figure for the whole of 2023 (6.6 billion). On 5 August 2024, 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%). ==Ships built at Fincantieri (selection)==