Construction has started on the largest Costa cruise ship ever and the biggest passenger vessel in the world.
The first piece of steel has been cut at the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland. This major construction mile stone begins the physical development of the biggest ever Costa cruise ship. At a ceremony held the name of the new liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered ship was unveiled as Costa Smeralda.
Michael Thamm, CEO of the Costa Group and Carnival Asia, said:
“These ships will strengthen the leadership position for the Costa Group, which is already the market leader in all the major continental Europe markets.”
“The multibillion dollar contract with Meyer, which also includes two new LNG-powered ships to be
built for our German brand, AIDA Cruises, reflects our strategy of constantly innovating our vacation offerings and providing our guests with an unmatched cruise experience.”
Costa Smeralda, which will enter service in October 2019, will exceed 180,000 gross tons and offer more than 2,600 passenger cabins for a total of about 6,600 passengers on board. A second ship, sister to Costa Smeralda, will be delivered by Meyer Turku in 2021.
The new class vessel will offer cruises to the Western Meditteranean and those sailings will go on sale in early 2018. Another identical LNG ship for German-based Aida Cruises also recently started construction and all ordered by parent company Carnival Corporation.
