Costa Cruises takes delivery of new eco ship, sets sights on zero-emission cruising

Costa Cruises, a part of Carnival Corporation & plc, took delivery of the new Costa Firenze ship from Fincantieri, designed and built in the Marghera shipyard and inspired by the Florentine Renaissance.

With 135,500 gross tonnage and a capacity of more than 5,200 guests, the Costa Firenze is part of the development plan that includes seven new ships to be delivered for the Costa Group by 2023, for a total investment of more than €6 billion.

Costa Firenze is the fourth of these new ships to be delivered with three more to come.

Of the 14 ships currently operating in the Costa Cruises fleet, 11 were built by Fincantieri, confirming the solid relationship between the two companies.

“The handover of the new Costa Firenze is a sign of hope and restart for the whole cruise and tourism ecosystems. This ship represents the most tangible evidence of the will of our group to restart,” said Michael Thamm, group CEO of Costa Group and Carnival Asia.

“Looking beyond the pandemic, Costa’s goal is to design the future of sustainable and zero emission cruising and we hope that our long-lasting partnership with Fincantieri can bring our companies to work together on a roadmap that can lead to this ambitious yet essential objective.”

“Costa Firenze is the third cruise ship we have delivered since September and we are pleased that the name of this unit recalls one of the most famous cities of art in Italy and in the world. The delivery is an important moment because it is the concrete demonstration that the company is getting back to its normal production activity,” Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, said.

“I would also like to underline that the financial and economic situation of Fincantieri has not changed significantly compared to what we communicated in the previous quarters. The company has proven to be very resilient, avoiding the cancellation of orders and strengthening relations with the customers of the cruise sector.”

Costa Cruises said that Costa Firenze’s environmental performance has been acknowledged by the Italian classification society RINA with Green Star 3.

The voluntary notation covers all the main aspects of a ship’s environmental impact and requiring maximum protection and prevention across areas such as waste, grey water, black water, machinery oil, CO2, ozone, greenhouse gases, particulate matter, sulphur oxides, nitrogen, and ballast water, among others.

The certification also recognizes the design solutions and operating procedures that Costa has implemented voluntarily, both during construction and navigation, aimed at outperforming the environmental protection requirements of international regulations.

The ship will first sail in the Mediterranean in 2021, providing two different week-long itineraries in the western Mediterranean.

Costa Group has 28 ships across its fleet, belonging to Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Costa Asia brands. The fleet will grow further with the arrival of three new ships by 2023.