Genoa (TAN): Italy-based cruise line Costa Cruises, owned by Carnival Corporation and plc, has floated out Costa Smeralda, its first ship to be powered by liquefied natural gas.
Constructed by Finnish shipbuilding company Meyer Turku, the vessel is expected to debut on October 20 this year.
Costa Smeralda will signify a major ecological breakthrough by using liquefied natural gas, hailed as the world’s cleanest burning fossil fuel, and set a standard for the industry to check carbon footprint. Carnival Corporation and Costa aim to cut carbon footprint 25 per cent by 2020.
Neil Palomba, President of Costa Group’ Costa Cruises, said: “We celebrate this symbolic moment for our new ship with great enthusiasm. Costa Smeralda represents a major innovation for the international market and an important step toward setting new standards for the entire sector, with LNG being a breakthrough in fuel technology.”
“Costa Group is the market leader in Europe and China, and we continue to make sustainable tourism a fundamental part of our industry leadership,” he added.
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“It has been very exciting to design and build Costa Smeralda together with our colleagues at Costa Cruises,” said Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku.
“I believe Smeralda will be a truly unique and innovative ship both in engineering and design and I feel confident that passengers will enjoy all the attractions onboard. For us shipbuilders the float-out of a ship is always very special occasion as the ship will now be in her element at the outfitting pier and we will start the finalizing phase of the construction,” he said.
The ship’s name, Costa Smeralda, has been inspired by a gorgeous tourist destination in Sardinia, the Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Costa Smeralda will feature over 2,600 staterooms, 11 restaurants, 19 bars, a spa area, a water park, four pools, and a play area for children. It will have ‘The CoDe’, a design museum showcasing Italian design.
“I am particularly proud of Costa Smeralda, as she will be unique in terms of innovative design and on-board services. She will pay tribute to the many things about Italy that people around the world love and appreciate,” said Palomba.
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“She has been designed with great passion and detail to deliver on our brand promise of providing our guests with an unforgettable vacation experience. We look forward to Costa Smeralda inspiring and welcoming new consumers and veteran cruise-goers into the exciting and immersive environment of a next-generation cruise ship,” he further said.
Costa Smeralda will debut with a 15-day tour from Germany’s Hamburg to Savona in Italy, with two-day stopovers in European cities includingHamburg, Rotterdam, Lisbon, Barcelona and Marseille.
The ship will have a christening ceremony in Savona on November 3, 2019, following which it will sail for Barcelona, Marseilles and Civitavecchia the next day. It will then sail around the Western Mediterranean until April 2021 offering one-week cruises in several destinations.
Costa Group and Carnival Corporation’s global cruise brands, aiming at the promotion of sustainable and environmental solutions, have installed Advanced Air Quality System (AAQS) on over 70 per cent of the fleet, the company said.
Costa Smeralda’s sister ship is expected to be delivered in 2021.
