Costa Cruises has begun hull assembly for Costa Toscana, celebrating the start of construction with a ceremony involving the top management of Costa Cruises and the Meyer Turku shipyard.

The LNG-fueled mega ship will be a sister ship to the 180,000-gross ton Costa Smeralda and is due for delivery in June, 2021. She will be deployed in the Mediterranean for her initial cruise season.

The mayor of Turku, Minna Arve, was chosen as the godmother for the event. 

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According to naval tradition, during the ceremony a number of commemorative coins were placed on the keel of the ship as a symbol of good wishes for members of the crew, passengers and future journeys.

The mayor of Turku, Minna Arve, was chosen as the godmother for the event.

The ship will now begin to take shape in the shipyard’s drydock, where a large 100-metre section of the hull has already been positioned. This section corresponds to the “floating engine room unit” (FERU), containing the ship’s engines.

“This symbolic moment in the construction of Costa Toscana marks a further step forward in the use of LNG in the cruise sector,” said Neil Palomba, President of Costa Cruises. “We were the first in the world to believe in this innovation five years ago, when we ordered these new ships, starting a transformation process toward make tourism increasingly sustainable.”

Rendering of Costa Toscana

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“LNG is currently the solution that allows the best and most immediate results to be achieved in terms of reducing the environmental impact of ships,” he added.

Costa Toscana is due to leave Hamburg on June 28, 2021, on her maiden revenue-making voyage, a 14 day cruise with a final destination of Savona and a program that includes long calls of two days and one night in Lisbon, Barcelona and Marseilles.

During summer 2021, the Costa Toscana will offer one week cruises in the Western Mediterranean, calling at Savona, Naples, Cagliari, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Marseille.

Carrying more than 5,000 passengers in 2,600 staterooms, Costa Toscana will feature 11 different restaurants (including one specifically conceived for casual family dining), 19 bars, a huge spa area with 16 treatment rooms, a waterpark, four pools and dedicated kids facilities.