Costa Cruises will add two huge new ships to its fleet, following the signing of a new ship-building deal with Germany’s Meyer Werft.
Carnival Corporation, the parent company of Costa, has penned agreements with the German shipyard for four new-build ships, two of which will go to Costa and two to Germany’s AIDA Cruises.
Scheduled for delivery in 2019 and 2020, the two new Costa ships will both exceed 180,000 gross tons, making them the largest vessels in Costa’s fleet and among the biggest cruise ships in the world.
Each ship will offer more than 2,600 passenger cabins and 5,200 lower berths for a total capacity of 6,600 people. They will also become the first ships in the industry to be powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), the world’s cleanest burning fossil fuel.
“These new ships will be phenomenal additions to our fleet, and we’re looking forward to seeing our Costa and AIDA brands bring this ground-breaking new ship design to life for our guests in a way that is customised for each brand,” said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation.
“As we continue enhancing our fleet, it is very important to us that every decision we make in the development of these new ships is about the guest experience, which supports our goal to exceed guest expectations and create great vacation memories for every person who boards one of our ships.”
Donald added that Carnival is replacing its “less efficient ships with newer, larger and more efficient vessels.”
The four-ship contract with Meyer Werft is part of a larger memorandum of understanding with two shipbuilders – Meyer Werft and Fincantieri – for nine new ships between 2019 and 2022.
The Costa Group currently sails a combined fleet of 25 ships across its AIDA and Costa brands.
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