Carnival says that its Italian brand, Costa Cruises, will build two new liquefied natural gas cruise ships as part of an agreement with Meyer Werft to construct four next-generation cruise ships with the largest guest capacity in the world.
Last month Carnival announced the other two ships included in this multi-billion dollar contract are destined for its German brand, AIDA Cruises.
The two new ships for Costa Cruises will be built by shipbuilder Meyer Werft at the company’s shipyard in Turku, Finland, with deliveries expected in 2019 and 2020. Each new cruise ship will exceed 180,000 gross tons, offering more than 2,600 passenger cabins and 5,200 lower berths to accommodate a total capacity of 6,600 guests.
Carnival’s four next-generation cruise ships for Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises will be the first in the industry to be powered at sea by LNG. These new ships will use LNG to generate 100 percent of the ship’s power both in port and on the open sea – an industry-first innovation that will significantly reduce exhaust emissions to help protect the environment and support the company’s sustainability goals.
