Costa Cruises, the Italian company of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world’s largest leisure travel company, and Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, one of the largest shipbuilding groups in the world, yesterday celebrated the official float-out ceremony of Costa Firenze, the cruise liner’s second ship designed and built specifically for the Asian market. The ceremony was held at Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera, Italy, where the ship is being built with scheduled delivery on September 30, 2020, once the interior fittings have been completed.
Costa Firenze is the sister ship of Costa Venezia, built by Fincantieri at Monfalcone shipyard and launched in Trieste on March 1 this year. The projects for construction of the two ships require thousands of shipyard workers and ancillary employees. Employment benefited not only the shipyards but also interior design and other vendors, of which mostly are Italian.
With a gross tonnage of in at 135,500 tons, 323 meters in length and a capacity for over 5,200 guests, Costa Firenze and Costa Venezia are the biggest ships introduced by Costa to the Asian market, where the Italian company was among the first international cruise liners to have started operating in 2006 and is currently one of the leaders. They are part of an expansion plan that includes a total of 7 ships being delivered to the Costa Group by 2023, for a total investment of over 6 billion euros.
As part of yesterday’s float-out ceremony, Costa Firenze officially reached the sea for the first time. The celebration followed the protocol provided by the seafaring tradition for such occasions, by flooding the basin where the ship took shape in recent months, following the cutting of the ribbon and the breaking of the bottle by the float-out ceremony’s godmother Franca Pierobon, an employee of Marghera shipyard.
“Costa Firenze is a further proof of Costa Cruises’ long-term commitment to the Asian market,” stated Vanessa Li, Vice President Marketing of Costa Group Asia. “We aim to bring the beauty of the Italian lifestyle to Asian guests, offering them an authentic Italian vacation experience. Together with Costa Venezia, which is enjoying great success, the arrival of Costa Firenze will help boost the development of the Asian cruise industry.”
“Today we celebrate a milestone in the construction of Costa Firenze through which the ship owner will strengthen commitment in an emerging market,” said Luigi Matarazzo, Fincantieri Executive Vice President Merchant Ships Business Unit. “For us Costa Firenze is the emblem of what we are able to do and where we intend to arrive, but she is also the product of the historical partnership with Carnival Corporation and Costa Crociere, which enhances the tradition of Italian manufacturing and know-how, projecting them towards other borders. Thanks to the effort of the Marghera shipyard, in a moment of exceptional growth of the cruise industry, we confirm our global leadership in this sector.”
Costa Firenze is inspired by the city of Florence, representing centuries of Italian culture and history. During the Costa Firenze cruises, guests, together with their families and friends, will have a chance to immerse themselves fully in Italian beauty and aesthetic, which will take shape in various aspects of life on board: from interior design to dining, from entertainment to hospitality. Like her sister ship Costa Venezia, Costa Firenze will offer a series of innovations designed specifically for the Asian market.
After her delivery scheduled on September 30, 2020, Costa Firenze will be heading to Singapore to offer cruises to Asian customers.