Technical Launch of Costa Cruises New Flagship

The Costa Diadema, the future flagship of Costa Cruises and of the Italian-flagged passenger fleet, touched the water for the first time during her technical launch ceremony at the Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera.

Once the work to fit out her interiors has been completed, the Costa Diadema (132,500 gross tonnage and 1,862 guest cabins) will be delivered on October 30, 2014.  Costa Cruises has invested a total of around 550 million euro in the construction of the Costa Diadema.  The project is employing a total of approximately 1000 shipyard workers plus another 2500 employees of allied industries.  The benefits in terms of employment extend beyond the yard, especially regarding the fitting-out of the interiors of the cruise ship, with the involvement of about 400 contracted suppliers, most of which are Italian firms.

Costa Crociere S.p.A. CEO Michael Thamm commented: “The Costa Diadema will be our new flagship and our tangible commitment to the future success and growth of our Company.  She is the 10th cruise ship built in Italy by Fincantieri for Costa since 2000, with a total investment worth almost 5 billion euro.  This investment creates wealth and employment for the country as a whole – not only during the building, but also when the ships are in service.  The Costa Diadema’s winter itinerary will include 3 ports in Italy:  Savona, Civitavecchia and La Spezia.  At the same time, thanks to her innovative features, the Costa Diadema will open up new horizons for Costa.”

Fincantieri's CEO, Giuseppe Bono, commented: “It's many years now that we've been applying Italian know-how to form a winning team with Costa. We hope that the country as a whole is proud of these two major companies and will not fail to support their continued growth. We're also convinced that "Costa Diadema", the largest ship ever built for Costa Crociere, bodes very well for the future development of our companies and the entire industry".

The Costa Diadema’s technical launch ceremony was carried out according to seafaring tradition. The launch started with the welding of a coin at the base of what was once the mainmast, a custom considered to bring good luck. Then, the shipyard director Antonio Quintano invited the godmother, Ms. Franca Grasso, to cut the ribbon and break a bottle of champagne against the bow of the Costa Diadema. Once the dry-dock basin where the ship took shape over the last few months had been filled with water, the hull finally had the chance to touch the sea for the first time.

In Winter 2014/15 Costa Diadema will be deployed on a 1-week itinerary including the chance to visit two of Italy’s must-see cities – Rome and Florence – on the one cruise.  The port calls are Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Civitavecchia and La Spezia.