Section of Costa Magica Arrives in Genoa

The fore end section of Costa Crociere’s second 105,000 gross tonnage new building, the Costa Magica, arrived in Genoa at Fincantieri’s yard in Sestri Ponente on December 7. Together with her sister ship Costa Fortuna, which is also currently under construction in Sestri Ponente, it will be the largest cruise ship ever to fly the Italian flag. The fore end section of the Costa Magica is 534 ft. long, 116.4 ft. in breadth and 25,000 gross tonnage. It was built by Fincantieri in Palermo, from where it was launched on 11th July 2002 prior to being towed to Genoa. The Costa Magica will be housed on the same slipway in the Sestri Ponente yards as her sister ship Costa Fortuna, which was launched by floating out on 11th November and is now moored at the dock where she is being fitted out. Once it is in position on the slipway, the fore end section of the Costa Magica will be assembled together with other “building blocks” until the vessel is completed. Thanks to Costa Crociere’s two new record-breaking ships, the historic Sestri Ponente yard is back in the limelight again, as in the past when it produced such legendary liners as the Rex (1931) and the Michelangelo (1965).