Costa Cruises has announced a third new ship to be added to its fleet in the next few years, with a fourth being brought back into service.
Miami-based parent Carnival Corp says construction has begun on a new 135,500-dwt ship with 2,116 cabins at Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard, due for delivery in 2020. It will be designed specifically for the Chinese market, Carnival said.
Carnival previously announced the entry of two newbuilds for Italian flag-flying Costa Cruises, led by Michael Thamm.
The Costa Venezia, also tailored for the Chinese market, is due in February 2019 from Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard.
Meanwhile, the 180,000-dwt Costa Smeralda, the first LNG-powered cruiseship for the world market, is expected from Finland's Meyer Turku shipyard in 2021.
The "fleet innovation programme" also entails the return of the 102,669-dwt Costa Fortuna to the Mediterranean, thus increasing Costa's fleet capacity by 43% and its number of ships to 17. The vessel is currently operating in Asia, Carnival said.
At the end of 2019, the 48,200-dwt Costa neoRiviera (built 1999) will be transferred to the fleet of AIDA Cruises, the Costa Group's German brand. It will be refurbished and renamed AIDAmira, set for a December 2019 maiden voyage to Palma.
In addition, the 75,166-dwt Costa Victoria (built 1996) has been operating in the Mediterranean since 30 March, having EUR 11m ($12.8m) of renovations done at the Marseilles Shipyards.
Overall, the Costa Group has seven new ships on order, for a total investment of over EUR 6bn.
In addition to Costa Cruises' four new ships, there are three new LNG ships for the AIDA Cruises fleet, arriving between autumn 2018 and 2023.
