Costa Cruises has started construction on a 135,500-ton ship, due for delivery in 2020, that is designed for the Chinese market like its sister ship, Costa Venezia.
Between 2019 and 2021, four new ships will enter service for Costa for an overall capacity increase of 43 percent. Costa Venezia, currently under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, is due to arrive in February 2019.
Costa's new flagship Costa Smeralda, the first cruise ship to be powered by the cleaner liquefied natural gas (LNG), is being built by Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland and is due to arrive in 2019. The Costa Smeralda's sister is scheduled to enter service in 2021.
Costa is making changes to its existing fleet, moving the Costa Fortuna from Asia to the Mediterranean in March 2019. In late 2019, the Costa neoRiviera will be transferred to AIDA Cruises, the Costa Group's German brand. After being remodeled and refurbished, the ship will be named AIDAmira and will depart on its maiden voyage December 4, 2019, from Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Additionally, the Costa Victoria, which has been operating regularly in the Mediterranean since March 30, 2018, has undergone renovation work worth 11 million euro at the Marseilles Shipyards. The majority of the work was focused on the cabins, the internal and external public areas, including the creation of a new tapas and paella bar. Next summer, the ship will offer a week-long itinerary in the Balearic Islands and Spain.
Under this growth program, the number of ships in the Costa fleet will increase to 17 in 2021, compared with the current 14. Overall, the Costa Group currently has seven new ships on order, for a total investment of more than six billion euros. In addition to Costa Cruises' four new ships under construction, there are three new LNG ships for AIDA Cruises due to arrive between autumn 2018 and 2023.
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