Italy’s Fincantieri Swaps Cruise for Warships in Defense Bid (1)

Fincantieri SpA plans to focus some Italian civil and military shipyards on just making warships, in the latest sign that Europe’s defense-spending bonanza is reshaping industrial strategy.

The state-controlled shipbuilder is preparing to boost its naval capacity and is weighing the roles of two locations in southern Italy, Chief Executive Officer Pierroberto Folgiero said.

The Castellammare di Stabia site south of Naples and one in Palermo, Sicily, make both commercial and military vessels. Their use could shift as demand for warships increases, the CEO said in an interview in Milan.

Pierroberto Folgiero

Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg

“We can easily increase military capacity and simply reallocate ...