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At the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland, the assembly of the hull of the Costa Toscana, Costa Crociere's second ship powered by liquefied natural gas, has started in these days. Cruises can already be booked, but at the moment there are no stops in Tuscan ports.
After Costa Smeralda, which entered into service on 21 December last, this is the second vessel to be powered by LNG; three more Costa Cruises will follow by 2023. A large section of the hull, about 100 metres long (floating engine room unit - FERU) containing the ship's engines, has already been positioned in the shipyard's dock, ready to be joined to the other parts of the keel.
The cruises of Costa Toscana are already bookable, counting on the observance of delivery dates by the Turku Shipyard. The maiden voyage, departing from Hamburg to Savona, the company's reference port, will sail on 28 June 2021, with stops in Lisbon, Barcelona and Marseille.
In summer Costa Toscana, with weekly cruises, always departing from Savona, will touch Naples, Cagliari, Palma de Mallorca and again Marseille and Barcelona. From November 2021 until Easter 2022 included, the stops in Palermo and Civitavecchia/Rome will be included. Each itinerary must include a stop in Barcelona, which - barring positive surprises from the Italian small-scale LNG infrastructure projects - remains the only active maritime LNG supply point in the Mediterranean.
Main features of the Costa Toscana: 185 000 grt; overall length 337 m, width 42 m, draught 8.6 m, propulsion 4 engines Caterpillar Dual-Fuel VM 46 DF GNL-16 cylinders; 2 pentapale-propellers and 4 bow thrusters; max speed 21.8 knots, 17 knots cruising; maximum crew 1,678; maximum passengers 6,554, guest cabins 2,612 of which 1,628 with balcony.
During the work start-up ceremony, Neil Palomba, Costa Crociere's General Manager, said: "LNG represents the solution that at the moment enables the best and most immediate results to be achieved in terms of reducing the environmental impact of ships".
"In our shipyard we have experience of previous projects we have worked on, and Costa Crociere will have a new design in many areas, to offer guests unique experiences." Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku, added.
Source: IVG.it
