Costa Smeralda Enters Service
Costa Smeralda entered service on Friday, making her first call at the port of Savona, Italy.
Costa Smeralda is the first ship in the Costa Group's fleet to be powered both in port and at sea by LNG. She is part of the Group’s fleet expansion plan, with a total of seven new ships slated for delivery by 2023 and an overall investment worth over €6 billion ($6.6 billion). Of these new additions, five – including Costa Smeralda and sister ship Costa Toscana scheduled to enter service in 2021 – will be fueled by LNG.
The Costa Group intends to achieve a 40 percent reduction in its fleet’s CO2 emissions by 2020, some 10 years ahead of the target laid down by the IMO.
The new 180,000GT vessel was built in the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland. She is sailing her maiden cruise in the Mediterranean: the one-week itinerary includes calls in Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Civitavecchia and La Spezia.
In Costa’s main homeport of Savona, 900,000 passengers are forecast in 2020, a year-on-year increase of around 30 percent.
Costa Smeralda has a range of environmental features. All the ship’s daily water supply requirements are met by processing seawater directly on board in special desalination plants. Energy consumption is reduced to a minimum via an intelligent energy management system.
On Costa Smeralda there will be a further phasing out of single-use plastic items, most of which have already been replaced by products made of alternative materials. Once this has been extended fleetwide, there will be a reduction in consumption of over 50 metric tons of plastic a year. Costa Smeralda will also have 100 percent separate collection of waste on board with recycling of plastic, paper, glass and aluminum.
Costa’s focus on food issues will continue also on the new flagship, with the 4GOODFOOD program designed to reduce food waste and to use food surplus for social betterment. Costa Smeralda will be replacing Costa Diadema in the offloading and donation to charity of surplus food in each port of call on the itinerary in collaboration with the European Federation of Food Banks.
Costa Smeralda's design is the result of a project led by Adam D. Tihany. Tihany led an international team of four architectural firms: Dordoni Architetti, Rockwell Group, Jeffrey Beers International and Partner Ship Design. The furnishings, lighting, fabrics and upholstery and accessories were all made in Italy. The tribute to Italian design is showcased onboard in the CoDe - Costa Design Museum.
Costa Smeralda will also offer “Adagio Tours,” a one-of-a-kind project resulting from the partnership between Costa Cruises, the Italian Multiple Sclerosis association (AISM) and the Costa Crociere Foundation. These shore excursions are designed to meet the needs of guests who want to enjoy their chosen destinations at a slower pace; Adagio Tours are particularly suitable for people with disabilities, parents with toddlers in strollers and the elderly.
The Costa Group now has 29 ships in service, all fly the Italian flag.
