ABB Ltd. ( ABB - Snapshot Report ) has bagged a contract from a Germany based cruise operator, TUI Cruises, for providing complete power plant and propulsion systems. The systems ordered for a new ship, which is being built by the cruise in Finland at the STX Europe yard in Turku.

German tourism company, TUI AG and Royal Caribbean International, have jointly formed TUI Cruises. By increasing its passenger capacity, TUI Cruises will be able to better serve the growing German sea vacation market. ABB has successfully provided energy efficient systems on many marine projects of STX Europe.

Onboard energy efficiency of the new ship will be increased with ABB’s systems. By spring of 2013, delivery of the new ship is expected to start and commissioning is scheduled for early 2014.

Moving ahead, the emerging markets will be a significant growth driver, with a need for high efficiency power transmission technologies. Demand in mature markets is also expected to improve. Customer capital expenditures have increased with the rise in commodity prices. Increased capacity in some later-cycle infrastructure-related businesses continues to exist. In many sectors, price stability has been attained. ABB has increased its prices to offset increasing raw material costs.

ABB Ltd. is a Zurich (Switzerland)based power and automation technology company. The company operates in approximately 100 countries, structuring its global organization into five regions: Europe, Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. A major competitor of ABB Ltd. is Siemens AG ( SI - Analyst Report ) .

Currently, we maintain a Zacks #4 Rank (short-term Sell recommendation) on ABB Ltd.