The steel cutting ceremony for the first of two Costa Cruises ships to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) was held this morning at Meyer Turku Shipyard, Finland. The ship will be launched in October 2019 with a sister ship following in 2021.
The 183,900GT Costa Smeralda and her sister will be 337 metres long with beams of 42 metres and draughts of 8.8 metres.
Classed by RINA, the pair will each have 2,612 passenger cabins and 5,224 lower berths for a total passenger capacity of 6,518, served by a crew of 1,682.
Four main engines will propel the ships to a speed of 17 knots.