CMV will take delivery of P&O Australia’s Pacific Dawn and Pacific Aria in March and May 2021, which will take the line’s fleet up to eight ships and increase passenger capacity by 30%.

The two ships will be officially renamed in summer 2021 after undergoing minor upgrade and re-livery work in Singapore before repositioning to northern Europe. The new ship names are due to be revealed next month.

Christian Verhounig, CMV’s chief executive, said: “The introduction of two more ships to the global ocean fleet is the next exciting chapter of our strategic growth objectives.

“This will enable us to service increasing market demand for our traditional brand of cruising generated by our expanding international network of inhouse sales offices and developing source markets.

“We have now acquired five cruise ships in just five years and are firmly on course to carry 200,000 passengers in 2021.”  

Pacific Dawn, which has capacity for around 1,400 passengers, will be deployed in the UK market in late May 2021 offering year-round cruising from Tilbury, alongside existing ship Columbus.

Pacific Aria will serve the Germany market under the TransOcean Kreuzfahrten brand. The UK and German markets currently make up 85% of CMV’s sales.

CMV’s summer 2021 programme will go on sale during the first quarter of 2020 including the release of special 2021 launch edition brochures featuring early booking incentives.

Chris Coates, CMV’s group commercial director, added: “These two fine cruise ships perfectly complement our existing fleet providing trade partners and consumers alike with much needed extra capacity.

“For 2020, we expect close to 70% of capacity to be sold by the year end, in line with expectations. This provides an ideal platform for the early introduction of new tonnage and opportunities for summer 2021 with the focus very much on higher yield business.”