Costa Cruises ceremony at Meyer Turku

Costa Cruises’ Costa Toscana will be the first ship to benefit from the new panel line of Meyer Turku, part of a €200m investment programme at the shipyard. “Modern shipyard for modern ships,” said chief executive, Jan Meyer.

“With the first Costa ship, Costa Smeralda, being delivered in October, both of these ships will have lots of beautiful design and interesting features – and of course very high quality work and best-in-industry engineering,” he added.

The Costa Smeralda and Costa Toscana, scheduled for delivery in October 2019 and 2021 have a gross tonnage of over 180,000, more than 2600 staterooms and are part of the Costa Group’s fleet expansion plan, with seven new ships scheduled to enter service by 2023.

“The steel-cutting ceremony for the Costa Toscana is another step forward in our sustainable development plan,” said Costa Cruises’ president, Neil Palomba.

“LNG propulsion for cruise ships is a major innovation, pioneering a new era in the use of low carbon fuels that will significantly reduce exhaust emissions to help protect the environment without compromising on safety, in line with our top priorities,” he added.

Meyer Turku is also investing in people with a recruitment drive to find 200 new shipbuilders each year. “We are in constant need of qualified workforce and are also willing and able to train people even without previous background in shipbuilding,” said Mr Meyer.