Costa Cruises to receive two LNG-cruise ships from Meyer Werft

Carnival Corporation’s Italian brand Costa Cruises will receive two new next-generation cruise ships from Meyer Werft.

The new development is part of a recent multi-billion dollar contract with Meyer Werft to construct four cruise ships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Representing a major environmental breakthrough in the cruise industry, the new vessels will feature a ‘green cruising’ design and are said to offer the largest guest capacity in the world.

With deliveries scheduled in 2019 and 2020, the new 180,000gt cruise vessels will each feature more than 2,600 passenger cabins to accommodate a total of 6,600 passengers on-board.

Costa Cruises said these new ships will allow the company to continue to build on its leadership position in the continental European cruise market.

Costa Group CEO Michael Thamm said: "These ships will expand the leadership position for the Costa Group, the market leader in all the major continental European markets.

"The multibillion dollar contract with Meyer mirrors our strategy to constantly innovate our vacation offers and to deliver unmatched cruise experience to our guests."

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The vessels will be manufactured at Meyer Werft’s shipyard in Turku, Finland.

Meanwhile, the remaining two vessels under the contract will be delivered to AIDA Cruises in 2019 and 2020. The vessels will be constructed at Meyer Werft’s shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

The order for these four ships is part of the strategic memorandums of agreements that Carnival signed with Meyer Werft and Fincantieri to build a total of nine new cruise ships over a four-year period from 2019 to 2022.

Image: The new cruise ships will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), representing a major environmental breakthrough in the cruise industry. Photo: courtesy of Costa Cruises S.p.A.