Costa Cruises Commissions Fincantieri to Build Largest Italian Cruise Ship

Costa Crociere S.p.A., Italy’s largest tourism group and Europe’s no. 1 cruise company, has announced that it is poised to set a new benchmark in the cruise industry after recently commissioning Fincantieri S.p.A. to build the largest Italian cruise ship. The ship will have a gross tonnage of 132,500 tons with 1,854 cabins, and can accommodate 4,928 guests. Costa Cruises has now ordered 10 new ships in 10 years from Fincantieri, bringing its total investment to over 5 billion Euros.

The new flagship in the Costa fleet and the Italian passenger fleet will be built at the Fincantieri shipyards in Marghera (Venice), for a total ship owner’s all-in cost of approximately 150,000 Euros per lower berth. Delivery is planned for October 2014. Purchased through a financing agreement, the new ship will be an innovative evolution of the "Concordia-class” project, developed by integrating and improving the main features of the latest successful Costa ships.

“This new order, the tenth in 10 years, not only consolidates the link between our company and Fincantieri, but also demonstrates the leadership achieved by Costa Cruises in Europe and its ability to drive the cruise business and tourism in general, generating wealth for the country's economy. This innovative project will once again be symbolic of Italy's ability to create excellent products in terms of design, technology and innovation, strengthening the reputation of ‘made in Italy’ products around the world. While this new order will not lead to a significant increase in Costa Cruises’ capacity, it is part of a plan that will make the fleet more efficient,” said Giovanni Onorato, Manager, Costa Crociere S.p.A.

Giuseppe Bono, Fincantieri's CEO, said, “Despite the challenges being faced by the shipbuilding sector, particularly with the reduction in the number of orders worldwide, Fincantieri once again demonstrates its competitive edge by signing a major shipbuilding agreement. This certainly reaffirms and reinforces our leading role in the global market. Our continuing success has been made possible through the support of our partners, the Carnival Group, and our friends at Costa, who, despite the economic challenges, continue to invest and believe in the growth potential of the cruise ship industry. We are also grateful to the Italian government for its proactive support in providing financing facilities.”

“This is another very important development that will help fast track our expansion activities in key growth destinations, particularly here in the Middle East. Costa’s aggressive investment initiatives are likewise crucial to maintaining our competitive edge and strengthening our brand image as an innovative leader in the cruise industry. Moreover, we look forward to building on this new milestone to complement our activities across high-growth markets in the Middle East,” said Awadh Al Ketbi, Representative in the GCC, Costa Crociere.

The agreement was announced in August, shortly after the technical launch of Costa Fascinosa, another new Costa cruise ship being built at Marghera shipyards that is due to be delivered in May 2012. Costa Fascinosa has a gross tonnage of 114,500 and can accommodate 3,800 total guests.

Costa Crociere S.p.A. also announced the sale of the Costa Marina, which had been in service for more than 20 years. It will no longer be part of the Costa fleet starting in November 2011.