The Italian brand of Carnival Corporation & plc, Costa Cruises, celebrated on Tuesday, July 30, the first steel-cutting for the brand's 2nd ship that can be powered at sea and in port by liquefied natural gas (LNG), at Meyer Turku shipyard in Permo (Finland).
Costa Toscana is the 2nd of two new sisterships ordered by Costa that can be powered at sea and in port by the cleanest burning fossil fuel in the world. The first one, Costa Smeralda, is nearing completion at Meyer Turku and will enter service in October 2019, followed by Costa Toscana, that is due to be delivered in 2021.
With a gross tonnage of more than 180,000 and 2600+ staterooms each, Toscana and Smeralda are part of Costa's fleet expansion plan of Costa Group which includes a total of 7 new cruise ships scheduled to enter service by 2023. AIDAnova, the first of the new ships, was launched at the end of last year, followed by Costa Venezia, the first ship of the brand designed for the cruise market in China, at the end of February 2019.