Finnish yard says size of project means handover date of Costa Smeralda has slipped for second time
Twenty Maltese were among the thousands of passengers hit by a second delay in the delivery of Costa’s first LNG-powered cruise ship.
The ship, the second of its type in the Mediterranean, is being built at Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.
Costa Cruises said it was “sincerely sorry” for what happened and is notifying travel agents and customers booked on cruises from November 30 to December 20, “which can no longer take place”.
Sources close to Costa Cruises in Genoa have told The Sunday Times of Malta that a total of 20 passengers from Malta were affected.
According to the latest update, the 180,000 gross ton Costa Smeralda is now scheduled to enter into operation on December 21, sailing from Savona.
The company said it was making the necessary arrangements to offer clients a new choice of departure dates at a 30 per cent discount.
This is the second time that the delivery of this ship has been delayed. A previous delay was revealed in September when Meyer Turku said that the LNG-powered unit would be handed over in mid-November, a month later than the earlier planned October delivery date.
The Finnish yard apologised for the latest delay, saying it was due to “the high complexity and the sheer size of the ship project”.
The Costa Smeralda was one of four LNG-powered ships ordered by Costa Cruises’ parent Carnival Corp. back in June 2015 at Meyer Turku and Germany’s Meyer Werft.
Costa Smeralda will be the second to be delivered out of a total 11 new ships now set to join Carnival Corporation’s fleet between 2018 and 2025 that can be powered by LNG.
“With its new cruise ship LNG propulsion system and many sophisticated rooms with stage and audio/video equipment the complexity and sophistication of the ship is very high in order to create a unique Costa-style passenger experience,” explained the shipyard in a press release.
“In getting this all to work together with many involved persons and companies, Meyer Turku had a slower progress speed than needed, despite counteractions. Meyer Turku apologises to all that are affected by this change. With the new time frame, Meyer Turku is going to deliver a highly sophisticated cruise ship in the usual high Meyer Turku quality.”
Once in service, the ship is scheduled to sail weekly round-trips from Savona to Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Civitavecchia (Rome) and La Spezia until May 16.
Like her sister ship Costa Toscana due for delivery in 2021, Costa Smeralda will be powered both in port and at sea by LNG, the world’s cleanest burning fossil fuel, thereby minimising environmental impact. The introduction of LNG-fuelling enables the virtual total elimination of sulfur dioxide emissions and particulate matter.
Costa Smeralda and Costa Toscana are part of the company’s strategic plan for carbon footprint reduction.
The measures will enable Carnival Corporation to meet its 25 per cent carbon reduction goal for 2020 some three years ahead of schedule, with a 27.6 per cent decrease in emissions from operations achieved by 2018.