Costa orders two more from Fincantieri

The Italian cruise line Costa Crociere has signed an order with Fincantieri for two new 114,200gt cruise ships to be delivered in 2011 and 2012 at an all-in cost of approximately ??¬1bn ($1.43 million). The two newbuildings will be constructed at Fincantieri’s Marghera yard and will be sisters to ???Costa Concordia???, ???Costa Serena??? and ???Costa Pacifica???, the latter of which is under construction at Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente shipyard. The new ships will each have 3,012 lower berths and will be able to accommodate 3,780 passengers in total.

???By ordering two additional ships for our fleet of 12, plus three ordered previously, we are not only reinforcing our position as the market leader in Italy and Europe, but also responding to the increasing demand for our product from our customers across the globe,?? said Pier Luigi Foschi, chairman and ceo of Costa.

Fincantieri ceo Giuseppe Bono added: ???This new agreement means that over the course of the last year we have gained, in the cruise sector alone, orders for 12 ships, including two options, for a total value of over ??¬5bn.??

The two new ships will sport signature features of the Concordia class including the 23,000sq ft Samsara Spa, two swimming pools with retractable magrodomes and Grand Prix race car driving simulators. In addition, the new ships will have 17 additional veranda cabins and an overall total of 1,506 cabins, six more than the other Concordia-class ships. The two ships will also feature additional innovations to the spa area as well as upgrades to on board entertainment for adults, children and teens.

Costa’s capacity will increase by 20% (based on double occupancy) with the addition of the two new vessels bringing its fleet expansion program, which began in 2000, to a total value of ??¬5.5bn and the number of vessels introduced between 2000 and 2012 to 13. By 2012, when the last of the new orders is completed, the Costa fleet will be 17 strong with a total passenger capacity of approximately 36,700, based on double occupancy.