Costa Cruises’ 2nd LNG-fueled ship completes sea trials, coin ceremony

Work continues on the construction of Costa Toscana, Costa Cruises’ second cruise vessel powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

On 26 October, the second part of the traditional coin ceremony took place at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.

In the two weeks prior to the coin ceremony, the Costa Toscana had left the Turku shipyard to carry out sea trials, during which the ship successfully passed a series of tests to verify the proper functioning of systems, equipment, and LNG engines.

This is another key step towards delivery, scheduled for December 2021.

“These additional key steps in the completion of the Costa Toscana confirm our commitment to evolution towards an increasingly sustainable cruise model,” Mario Zanetti, President of Costa Cruises, commented.

Costa Toscana, like its sister ship Costa Smeralda, is powered by liquefied natural gas, the marine industry’s most advanced fuel technology currently available for reducing emissions, both at sea and during port calls.

The construction of Costa Toscana began in summer 2019. The 185,000 GT newbuild was floated out in Finland in January this year.

The Costa Group – which includes Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises – has been the first company in the cruise industry to believe in this technology and can currently count on four LNG-powered ships, two of which are already in service, AIDAnova and Costa Smeralda, and two soon to be delivered, Costa Toscana and AIDACosma.