Costa Sending Fifth Vessel to Asia

Published Apr 16, 2016 7:45 PM by The Maritime Executive

Costa Cruises has announced that, starting April 2017, the Costa neoRomantica will be based in Asia year-round. This will be the line’s fifth vessel to be regularly deployed in the region.

The Costa neoRomantica will arrive in Shanghai on April 10, 2017, after a 23-day positioning cruise departing from Port Louis, Mauritius. It will then be dry docked in Shanghai, to perform renewal works that will customize the ship for its new Asian guests.

The 56,800 gross ton vessel can carry 1,800 passengers, and cruise itineraries will be aimed at the local market.

“The deployment of a fifth Costa ship in Asia in 2017, in addition to the two new fleet members that will be built specially for Costa Asia, will allow us to continue to significantly grow the Asian cruise market in particular China, which is set to become the second largest in the world by the end of the decade,” said Costa Group CEO Michael Thamm.

At present there are three Costa ships already cruising in Asia, while a fourth, the Costa Fortuna, will arrive in Shanghai on April 22, 2016. In addition, the Costa Group recently announced an order for two new ships for Costa Asia, to be built by Fincantieri in Italy, with delivery in 2019 and 2020. These 135,500 gross ton vessels will carry 4,200 guests. Costa Asia’s new ships will be the 13th and 14th cruise ships built in Italy by Fincantieri for Costa, with a total investment value of more than six billion euro ($6.7 billion.)

The Costa Group was the first cruise company to enter the Chinese market back in 2006. The Costa Group is the leading cruise company in Europe. The 26 ships of the brands Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Costa Asia together have a total capacity of 72,000 beds. The fleet will be further strengthened by seven new vessels by 2020.