Costa Smeralda will enter service in October 2019 and will be the first cruise ship for the world market fuelled by LNG, the “cleanest” fossil fuel in the world.
Construction of the Costa Smeralda, the new flagship of the Costa Cruises fleet, is inching closer to completion ahead of her October delivery from Meyer Turku in Finland.
The characteristic yellow funnel with the blue “C”, which has identified all the Italian company’s ships for the last 70 years, has now been installed.
The funnel will not only be a symbol but is directly connected to one of the main technological innovations in the ship. Costa Smeralda will be the first cruise ship for the world market, specifically the European one, to be fuelled, both in port and while at sea, by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the cleanest fossil fuel in the world.
This is an environmental transformation that will improve air quality as LNG almost entirely prevents particulate and sulfur oxide emissions at sea and in port. It also significantly reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides and CO2.
With a gross tonnage of over 180,000 tons and over 2,600 rooms, Costa Smeralda will enter service in October 2019. Delivery of a second ship, the twin to Costa Smeralda, also being built by Meyer-Turku, is scheduled for 2021.
Costa Smeralda and its twin ship are part of an expansion plan for the Costa Group fleet under which seven new ships will be delivered by 2023, for a total investment of over 6 billion euros.
The Costa Smeralda debut is scheduled for October 20, 2019, with a 15-day inaugural cruise from Hamburg to Savona. The naming ceremony will take place in Savona on November 3, 2019. On November 4, 2019, a 6-day inaugural cruise will depart from Savona for Barcelona, Marseilles and Civitavecchia.
Costa Smeralda will then continue to sail in the Western Mediterranean until April 2021, offering 1-week cruises to discover Savona, Marseilles, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Civitavecchia and La Spezia.