Costa Cruises has been revealed as the brand that will get two new LNG-fueled cruise ships ordered by Carnival Corporation that will also set the record for guest capacity.
Costa Cruises announced Tuesday the order to build the two new next-generation cruise ships at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Turku, Finland.
[contextly_sidebar id=”46hhj7LPFwdKvSoygUOdPYdj6XGPblZj”]The ships, which will be powered by liquified natural gas, are part of a multi-million contract first announced in June between Carnival Corporation and Meyer Werft calling for the construction of four similar cruise ships at the Meyer Werft’s yards in Papenburg, Germany and Turku, Finland.
In what is a first for the cruise ship industry, the four ships are to be equipped with dual fuel engines that will use clean burning LNG to produce 100% of the power needed at sea. The ships also set the world record for guest capacity, with a total capacity for a staggering 6,600 guests in 2,600 passenger cabins with more than 5,000 lower berths. At 180,000 gross tons, the vessels will also be the largest in the Carnival Corp. fleet, which currently spans nine brands and more than 100 ships.
At the time of the June announcement, it was revealed that two of the ships will be manufactured for Carnival’s AIDA Cruises brand, with details about the remaining two ships to be revealed at a later date.
Costa Group says that the new ships represent an environmental breakthrough for the cruise ship industry and will help the company build on its leadership position in the continental European cruise market.
Delivery of the two vessels for Costa Cruises are scheduled for 2019 and 2020.
Carnival Corp., the world’s largest cruise company, said that the order is the result of strategic partnerships established in March between Carnival and leading shipbuilders Meyer Werft, Meyer Turku and Fincantieri S.p.A. for nine new ships between 2019 and 2022.
Family-owned Meyer Werft Shipyard became the sole owner of the Turku shipyard, now known as Meyer Turku Shipyard Oy, in April after buying out the Finnish Government from its 30% stake. Meyer Werft and the Finnish state originally purchased the yard. then part of STX Finland, from STX Europe in September 2014. Since the acquisition, Meyer Werft has helped the shipyard complete deliveries within its existing orderbook and also attract new business to the yard.
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