GENOA and TRIESTE, Italy, Dec. 22,
2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Costa Cruises, a part of
Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE:
CUK), officially took delivery of the new Costa Firenze ship from Fincantieri,
designed and built in the Marghera shipyard and inspired by the
Florentine Renaissance. The event has taken place in full digital
mode today.
With 135,500 gross tonnage and a capacity of more than 5,200
guests, the Costa Firenze is part of the development plan that
includes seven new ships to be delivered for the Costa Group
by 2023, for a total investment of more than €6 billion.
Costa Firenze is the fourth of
these new ships to be delivered with three more to come.
Of the 14 ships currently operating in the Costa Cruises
fleet, 11 were built by Fincantieri, confirming the solid
relationship between the two companies, as well as representing a
significant contribution to the Italian economy, including
guaranteeing work for thousands of employees in the shipyards and
external companies, mainly involved in interiors fittings.
"The handover of the new Costa Firenze is a sign of hope and
restart for the whole cruise and tourism
ecosystems. This ship represents the most tangible
evidence of the will of our group to restart. Our hope is that
people will soon be able to travel again and that more ships will
set sail and contribute to the revitalization of tourism in
Italy, Europe and globally," stated
Michael Thamm, group CEO
of Costa Group and Carnival Asia. "Looking beyond the
pandemic, Costa's goal is to design the future of sustainable and
zero emission cruising and we hope that our long-lasting
partnership with Fincantieri can bring our companies to work
together on a roadmap that can lead to this ambitious yet essential
objective."
Giuseppe Bono, CEO of
Fincantieri, said: "Costa Firenze is the third cruise ship we have
delivered since September and we are pleased that the name of this
unit recalls one of the most famous cities of art in Italy and in the world. The delivery is an
important moment because it is the concrete demonstration that the
company is getting back to its normal production activity. I would
also like to underline that the financial and economic situation of
Fincantieri has not changed significantly compared to what we
communicated in the previous quarters. The company has proven to be
very resilient, avoiding the cancellation of orders and
strengthening relations with the customers of the cruise sector. We
are a growing company, we gained an international reputation and
reliability, making further development easier, and we can count on
an order book guaranteeing long-term visibility with opportunities
to increase efficiency, productivity and profitability."
"Costa Firenze is a superb ambassador of Italian style,
bringing a distinctive Italian taste for beauty to the seas around
the world, from Europe to
Asia," said Mario Zanetti, chief commercial officer of
Costa Cruises and president of Costa Group Asia. "The concept of
the Costa Firenze is inspired by an iconic city, which represents
Italian art, taste and refinement in the world's collective
imagination. We have designed this ship to offer our guests a
unique experience, especially for the family target, with a
specific offer of entertainment and services."
Costa Firenze's interior design
is a celebration of the Tuscan city, cradle of Renaissance art and
culture. The common spaces reflect the harmony of a stroll through
a Florentine street or square, even in the choice of colors.
Gastronomic offerings are based on the great Mediterranean cuisine,
with a wide choice of dining options guaranteed by 13 bars and
seven restaurants. The ship is perfect for families, with specific
offers and some new features such as a real "adventure park" on
board.
The Costa Firenze project also takes sustainability in special
regard. Costa Firenze's excellent
environmental performance has been acknowledged by RINA, an
international certification organization, with Green Star 3,
a voluntary notation covering all the main aspects of a ship's
environmental impact and requiring maximum protection and
prevention across areas such as waste, grey water, black water,
machinery oil, CO2, ozone, greenhouse gases, particulate
matter, sulphur oxides, nitrogen and ballast water, among others.
In addition to honoring compliance with a series of environmental
sustainability standards, the certification also recognizes the
design solutions and operating procedures that Costa has
implemented voluntarily, both during construction and navigation,
aimed at outperforming the environmental protection requirements of
international regulations.
The ship will first sail in the Mediterranean in 2021, providing
two different week-long itineraries in the western Mediterranean.
The first itinerary, available from Feb. 28,
2021, includes the Italian destinations of Genoa, La Spezia – with excursions also
departing to Florence – and
Naples, as well as Valencia, Barcelona and Marseille. The second itinerary, available
from May to October 2021, includes
Genoa and Civitavecchia, with
excursions to Rome, as well as
Naples, Ibiza, Barcelona and Marseille. After October 2021, the ship will move to Asia to join her sister ship Costa Venezia,
also built by Fincantieri, in the Monfalcone shipyard, and in
operation since March 2019.
Costa Group is the leading cruise company in Europe and China, with headquarters in Genoa. The 28 ships of its fleet, belonging to
Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Costa Asia brands, have a total
capacity of more than 93,000 total passengers. The fleet will grow
further with the arrival of three new ships by 2023. The company
has over 30,000 employees, working on board the ships and in 20
offices in 14 countries. The Costa Group is part of Carnival
Corporation & plc, which is one of the world's largest leisure
travel companies, with a portfolio of nine of the world's leading
cruise lines.
Fincantieri is one of the world's largest
shipbuilding groups and number one for diversification and
innovation. It is leader in cruise ship design and construction and
a reference player in all high-tech shipbuilding industry sectors,
from naval to offshore vessels, from high-complexity special
vessels and ferries to mega yachts, as well as in ship repairs and
conversions, production of systems and mechanical and electrical
component equipment, cruise ship interiors solutions, electronic
systems and software, infrastructures and maritime constructions as
well as after-sales services. With over 230 years of history
and more than 7,000 vessels built, Fincantieri has always kept its
management offices, as well as all its distinctive engineering and
production skills, in Italy. With
over 9,500 employees and a supplier network that employs nearly
50,000 people in Italy alone,
Fincantieri has enhanced a fragmented production capacity over
several shipyards into a strength, acquiring the widest portfolio
of clients and products in the cruise business. To hold its own in
relation to competition and assert itself at global level,
Fincantieri has broadened its product portfolio becoming world
leader in the sectors in which it operates.
The Group now has 18 shipyards operating in four continents,
nearly 20,000 employees, and is the leading Western shipbuilder;
its clients include the world's biggest cruise operators and the
Italian and the US Navy as well as numerous foreign navies.
Fincantieri is also a partner of some of the main European defence
companies within supranational programs.
Fincantieri's business is widely diversified by end markets,
geographical exposure and by client base, with revenue generated
from cruise ship, naval vessel, Offshore and Specialized Vessel
construction and from the supply of solutions for electronic
systems and software and for maritime infrastructure and works.
Compared with less diversified players, such diversification allows
it to mitigate the effects of any fluctuations in demand on the end
markets served.
www.fincantieri.com
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/handover-of-costa-firenze-the-ship-inspired-by-the-beauty-of-the-renaissance-301197562.html
SOURCE Costa Cruises