Building ships to keep beset Norwegian afloat

Norwegian Cruise Line, unprofitable so far this year, on Thursday unveiled a contract for new ships valued at $2.8 billion.

The contract calls for building two 4,200-passenger ships for $943 million each, with an option for a third ship priced at $896 million.

If the third ship is built, the contract would be the largest ever in the cruise business, surpassing a four-ship $2 billion order from Carnival Corp. last year.

Even though Norwegian has lost more than $60 million in the first half of 2006, NCL president Colin Veitch said he had no doubt the ships could be financed.