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Costa Group News

17 Jun 2022

Costa Toscana: Costa Cruises Christens New LNG-powered Flagship in Barcelona

Costa Toscana in Barcelona - Credit: Bartolomej Tomić

Italian cruise line Costa Cruises on Thursday held a christening ceremony for its new flagship, the Costa Toscana, in the port of Barcelona, Spain.The LNG-powered, Italian-flagged ship sailed away from Civitavecchia, Italy on Monday, making a stop in Naples on Thursday, before arriving in Barcelona on Thursday for the christening ceremony. The 337-meter ship is one of the largest ocean liners and can accommodate 6,554 passengers. Chanel, a Cuban-Spanish singer, dancer, and actress…

15 Jun 2022

Batteries, Fuel Cells, Solar, Wind Power and More: Cruise Operator Costa Group Sets Up Decarbonization Department

Credit: Costa Group

The European cruise company, Costa Group, with its Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises brands, which is part of Carnival Corporation, has created a dedicated decarbonization department within its Carnival Maritime unit based in Hamburg, Germany.The new department will be responsible for developing and implementing the strategy for achieving the decarbonization ambitions of the Costa and AIDA fleets by 2050. The effort will have a strong focus on research and development, energy management…

22 Dec 2020

Fincantieri Delivers Costa Firenze to Costa Cruises

(Photo: Costa Cruises)

Carnival Corporation's Costa Cruises has taken delivery of the new cruise ship Costa Firenze designed and built by Fincantieri at its Marghera shipyard.With 135,500 gross tonnage and a capacity of more than 5,200 guests, the Costa Firenze is part of a €6 billion ($7.3 billion) development plan that includes seven new ships to be delivered for the Costa Group by 2023. Costa Firenze is the fourth of these new ships to be delivered with three more to come.“The handover of the new Costa Firenze is a sign of hope and restart for the whole cruise and tourism ecosystems.

26 Oct 2020

Costa Cruises Completes Italy's First LNG Bunkering

Costa Smeralda loads LNG fuel from the bunkering vessel Coral Methane in the port of La Spezia. (Photo: Costa Cruises)

Carnival Corporation's Costa Cruises brand said its liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered flagship Costa Smeralda has become he first vessel to bunker LNG in Italy.Carried out in the port of La Spezia and completed at 6 p.m. on Sunday, the operation was supported by the Italian Coast Guard, Port Authority of Eastern Ligurian Sea, local authorities and Shell, which is the LNG supplier partner for Costa Group and its parent company, Carnival Corporation.The operation took place with the ship berthed at Molo Garibaldi pier…

13 Jul 2020

Carnival Makes Leadership Changes at HAL, Costa

Neil Palomba (left) and Gus Antorcha (Photos: Carnival Corp)

Carnival Corporation announced another set of moves within its global leadership team as part of the company's broader efforts to streamline operations and prepare the organization for the eventual resumption of cruising amid the coronavirus health crisis.Gus Antorcha, currently chief operations officer for the group's Carnival Cruise Line brand, has been named president of the company's Holland America Line, while Neil Palomba, currently president of the company's Italy-based Costa Cruises…

03 Jan 2020

Costa Smeralda Floated Out

Italian cruise line Costa Cruises said that Costa Smeralda is the first ship in the Costa fleet to be fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG). "This is a step change for the cruise industry as a whole, guaranteeing a substantially reduced environmental impact," it said."Costa Smeralda is the first ship in the Costa fleet to be powered both in port and at sea by LNG, meaning improved air quality and protecting the environment with the virtual elimination of sulfur dioxide emissions (zero emissions) and particulate matter (95-100% reduction). The use of LNG will also greatly lessen emissions of nitrogen oxides (85% direct reduction) and CO2 (reduction of up to 20%)…

06 Nov 2019

Costa Firenze Floats Out at Fincantieri

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri held an official float-out ceremony at its shipyard in Marghera for Costa Firenze, Costa Cruises’ second ship designed and built specifically for the Chinese market.Costa Cruises is the Italian company of Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest leisure travel company.The ceremony was held at Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera, Italy, where the ship is being built with scheduled delivery on September 30, 2020, once the interior fittings have been completed.Costa Firenze is the sister ship of Costa Venezia, built by Fincantieri at Monfalcone shipyard and launched in Trieste on March 1 this year. The projects for construction of the two ships require thousands of shipyard workers and ancillary employees.

29 Oct 2019

Costa Smeralda Delivery Delayed Again

(Photo: Meyer Turku)

Finnish shipyard Meyer Turku announced it has encountered more delays in the construction of a 180,000 GT cruise ship for Costa Cruises.Having already pushed back the delivery date from mid-October to mid-November, the shipbuilder said it now plans to hand over the newbuild Costa Smeralda in December 2019."The delay is due to the high complexity and the sheer size of the ship project," Meyer Turku said on Tuesday.Costa Smeralda features a liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion system and many sophisticated rooms with stage and audio/video equipment…

12 Sep 2019

Cruise Lines Invests $22 Bln in Clean Fuel Tech

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said that its Cruise Lines have invested more than $22 billion in ships with new, energy-efficient technologies and cleaner fuels and achieved substantial progress.“While cruise ships comprise far less than 1% of the global maritime community, cruise lines are at the forefront in developing responsible tourism practices and innovative technologies. Our industry leads in environmental stewardship,” said Michael Thamm, Chairman of CLIA Europe and Group CEO of Costa Group and Carnival Asia.“The entire shipping industry benefits from early adoption of innovative technologies by cruise lines—many of which did not exist five to 10 years ago such as exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS)…

30 Jul 2019

Steel Cut on Second Costa Cruise Ship

Photo courtesy of Meyer Turku

The steel cutting ceremony of the second Costa Cruises ship build at Meyer Turku commenced with new traditions: The brand new plasma cutter line was used for the first time in a production start ceremony.Costa Cruises’ Costa Toscana will be the first ship benefiting fully from the new panel line of Meyer Turku. The panel line is just one of the major over 100 million euro investments inside the steel halls, the whole shipyard going through an investment program of 200 million euros.

05 Jul 2019

Carnival connects entire fleet to STM

The Carnival Fleet Operation Centre where operators monitor and supports all cruise ships in the company.

As part of the Sea Traffic Management STM Validation project Costa Crociere, part of Carnival Corporation, integrated Costa and Aida ships to exchange information with other actors, utilizing STM supported standardised formats and interfaces. After verifying operations with these initial ships, the rest of the Carnival Corporation fleet has now been added.Costa developed STM support as part of their Fleet Operation Center software Neptune. This new functionality in Neptune allows Carnival to interact with other STM services…

04 Jul 2019

Carnival Installs STM

Carnival Corp has implemented Sea Traffic Management (STM) into its fleet management and operations software to share voyage data with ports and other shipping companies. EU's STM Validation project has now been added to entire Carnival Corporation fleet, following a successful trial with Carnival's Costa and Aida-brand ships.Costa Crociere developed STM support as part of their Fleet Operation Center software Neptune. This new functionality in Neptune allows Carnival to interact with other STM services, ports and shore center operators, and to evaluate voyage optimization suggestions received by shore centers through the maritime digital…

03 Jul 2019

Costa Cruise Unveils First LNG Cruise Ship

image credit: COSTA

Costa Smeralda will enter service in October 2019 and will be the first Costa ship fuelled by LNG, the "cleanest" fossil fuel in the world.Featuring over 2,600 staterooms, the upcoming Costa flagship will take its guests on a veritable “tour of Italy,” with lots of areas devoted to fun, flavours and festivity.Costa Cruises, the Italian brand of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world’s largest leisure travel company and cruise operator, will be awaiting the arrival of Costa Smeralda in October 2019…

13 Jun 2019

Digitalization: Managing the Flow

The SKF BlueMon monitoring system from SKF informs the crew of whether the ship’s emissions are within the locally permitted limits or whether they need to respond.

Mathias Rusch, Director of the Marine business unit at SKF explains what trends are currently shaping the industry, what future challenges are emerging and how operators can manage the flood of data that is coming out of the digitalization revolution.Two major trends that shipowners and operators are currently dealing with are persistently low freight rates, which have been significantly depressing shipowners’ earnings for a number of years and the requirements concerning emissions into both air and water that continue to grow.

18 Mar 2019

Meyer Turku Floats LNG-Powered Costa Smeralda

Finnish Shipbuilder Meyer Turku has floated out Costa Smeralda, the first LNG-powered ship in the Costa Cruises fleet."The float-out of LNG powered 180 000 GT cruise ship, marks the beginning of the final stage of construction for this Italian style beauty engineered and constructed in Finland," said a press release from the shipbuilding company located in Turku.She will be finalized at the outfitting pier of Meyer Turku and be ready for delivery for Costa Cruises in October 2019, the release said.Costa Smeralda will be the first LNG powered cruise ship in the Costa fleet and one of the first ones to sail the seas. LNG usage will cut…

01 Mar 2019

Fincantieri Delivers Costa Venezia

Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard handed over Costa Venezia - built specially for Chinese guests - to Costa Cruises, the Italian brand of Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise company.The handover took place yesterday in the presence of Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Edoardo Rixi, as well as Carnival Corp. & plc and Costa Group officials.With a gross tonnage of 135,500 tonnes, the 323-meter-long Costa Venezia offers 2,116 cabins for a total of 5,260 passengers and will be the largest among Costa's fleet in China.The ship is part of an expansion plan that includes 7 new ships arriving for the Costa Group by 2023…

27 Feb 2019

Costa Cruise Gets Her Funnel

Costa Smeralda will enter service in October 2019 and will be the first cruise ship for the world market fuelled by LNG, the “cleanest” fossil fuel in the world.Construction of the Costa Smeralda, the new flagship of the Costa Cruises fleet, is inching closer to completion ahead of her October delivery from Meyer Turku in Finland.The characteristic yellow funnel with the blue “C”, which has identified all the Italian company’s ships for the last 70 years, has now been installed.The funnel will not only be a symbol but is directly connected to one of the main technological innovations in the ship. Costa Smeralda will be the first cruise ship for the world market…

06 Nov 2018

China Cruising: Carnival Corp Launches China JV

Photo courtesy of Carnival Corporation & plc

Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), has announced that its cruise joint venture with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) will launch this week under the name CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping Limited. The new China-based cruise company plans to operate its own fleet to serve Chinese cruise guests by the end of 2019.CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping Limited announced an agreement to purchase two existing ships from Carnival Corporation’s Costa Group, the leading cruise operator in Europe and Asia.

24 Aug 2018

Carnival Maritime Partners with Wessels Reederei for LNG Training

AIDAnova is due to usher in a new era at the end of the year when it becomes the first cruise ship that can run on environmentally-friendly liquefied natural gas (LNG). To fully prepare the captains and officers for this technological changeover, a series of practical training sessions at sea started in June. The basis of this training project is a new cooperation between Carnival Maritime and Wessels Reederei, which is providing the LNG-powered container ship WES Amelie for training purposes.The 30-day on-board training sessions on the WES Amelie enable AIDA’s captains and officers to experience at first hand what it is like to control a LNG-powered vessel under real operating conditions.

03 Jul 2018

Klein Named Carnival Maritime MD

Carnival Maritime GmbH has announced  that Dr Hermann J. Klein has been appointed as its new Managing Director, starting September 1st, 2018. Klein is currently Managing Director and Group COO of CPO Holding (Offen Group) in Hamburg, Germany. He will be succeeding Lars Ljoen, who will join Carnival Cruise Lines in Miami, USA, as Head of Marine Operations. Carnival Maritime is the marine service unit for Costa Group with its brands AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, and Costa Asia. “Hermann Klein is a long-standing, well recognized executive of the maritime industry and has the perfect background and profound marine experience to further drive innovation and operational excellence across our fleet,” said Michael Thamm, Group CEO, Costa Group and Carnival Asia.

22 Jun 2018

Cruise Ship Costa Venezia Floated Out

(Photo: Fincantieri)

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri hosted a float-out ceremony for a new cruise ship under construction for Carnival Corporation’s Italian brand Costa Cruises. The new ship, Costa Venezia, is Costa’s first ship designed and built specifically for the Chinese market.“As our first ship built specifically for the Chinese market, Costa Venezia marks a new era not just for Costa Cruises and Fincantieri but for the Chinese cruise industry as a whole,” said Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Group Asia.

28 May 2018

Costa Cruises to Grow Capacity by 43 Percent by 2021

Costa Cruises is continuing to expand and renew its fleet of ships flying the Italian flag. At Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard, construction has begun on a new 135,500-ton ship with 2,116 cabins, due for delivery in 2020. Like its twin Costa Venezia, it will be designed specifically for the Chinese market. Between 2019 and 2021, four new ships will enter service for Costa, with an overall increase in capacity of 43%. Costa Venezia, currently under construction in the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, is due to arrive in February 2019, while the flagship Costa Smeralda, the first cruise ship for the world market powered by LNG, built by Meyer Turku shipyard (Finland)…

07 Dec 2017

Costa Group's New Gen Ships Will Call Marseille

Costa Group – part of Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise company – announced that its new generation ships, the first LNG powered at sea, will call Marseille in 2019. The Costa Group, the leading tourism group, the No. 1 cruiser in Europe has renovated its commitment to Port of Marseille through different initiatives that began in 1996 when the new cruise called “La Dolce Vita” started its weekly operations from Marseille to offer the French guests every Saturday a brand new and unique experience in the best places of the Mediterranean onboard its ship Costa Romantica. This new offer launched by Costa contributed to the French people being more and more interested in experiencing a cruise vacation.