Coin Ceremony Held for Costa Toscana

A coin-laying ceremony has been held at Meyer Werft in Turku, Finland, for the cruise ship Costa Toscana, the second of Costa Cruises' LNG-fuelled newbuilds.

The 185,000GT 337-meter (1,106-foot), 5,200-passenger Costa Toscana is the sister ship of Costa Smeralda, which entered service last year. Costa Toscana and Costa Smeralda are part of an expansion plan that includes seven new ships being delivered to the Costa Group by 2023 for a total investment of over six billion euros ($6.6 billion). Most will be fueled by LNG.

The mayor of Turku, Minna Arve, was chosen as the godmother for the coin laying ceremony. A 100-meter section of the hull has already been positioned. It will be the “floating engine room unit” (FERU), containing the ship's engines.

The use of LNG is part of the cruise line's plan to reduce the environmental impact of its fleet. Around 70 percent of the group's ships currently in service are fitted with scrubbers. The Costa Group has also pioneered the use of shore power and plans to equip all its ships currently in service with this technology. The company is also trialing the use of lithium ion batteries and fuel cells on some of its ships.

Costa Toscana will depart on her inaugural cruise from Hamburg on June 28, 2021, a14 days cruise with a final destination of Savona. During summer 2021 and until the first week of November, she will sail one-week cruises in the western Mediterranean calling at Savona, Naples, Cagliari, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Marseille. From mid-November 2021 to Easter 2022, her itinerary will change to visit Savona, Marseilles, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Palermo and Civitavecchia/Rome.