Ravenna Knutsen and Costa Toscana took to water

Two more important milestones in the development of LNG at sea and beyond have been reached in recent weeks. The Ravenna Knutsen, a 30,000 cubic metre LNG tanker, and the Costa Toscana, Carnival Group's fourth large LNG-powered cruise ship, both took to water. In the coming months the two ships will complete fitting out and will be able to sail, the first to the Mediterranean and the second to Brazil.

The Ravenna Knutsen, built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in South Korea, is 180 metres long and 28.4 metres wide. It can carry approximately 13,000 tonnes of LNG (three 10,100 cubic metre cargo tanks) and will mainly supply the Edison-Pir coastal depot in Ravenna. Service is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2021 to coincide with the start-up of the depot, initially with a capacity of 10,000 cubic metres, which is then expected to be doubled.

The recent entry of Enagas, Spain's leading LNG and small-scale LNG operator, into the capital of the Ravenna depot suggests Spanish ports as possible refuelling points, but there may be other possibilities in the Mediterranean closer to the Adriatic. The market is waiting for the Ravenna depot to develop the cost-compatible use of LNG in land transport in the centre-south of the country, which is blocked by the higher logistics costs of refuelling by tanker from Marseille, and then by sea.

At the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland, Costa Cruises (Carnival Group) celebrated the technical launch of the Costa Toscana, which like its sister ship Costa Smeralda, is powered by LNG. In addition to these, Carnival already has the Mardi Gras and the Aida Prima in service.

The Costa Toscana will enter service in December 2021, once the Made in Italy interiors for furnishings, lighting, fabrics and accessories have been completed, and designed specifically for the Costa Toscana by 15 partners highly representative of Italian excellence.

The inaugural cruise to Brazil is scheduled to depart from Santos on December 26, 2021, for a one-week itinerary that will visit Salvador and Ilhéus, and return to Santos. A further 15 cruises with the same itinerary will follow from 2 January to 10 April 2022, of which the Easter cruise will be the last before its return from Brazil to Italy.

Mario Zanetti, Costa Cruises' Chief Commercial Officer and General Manager of Costa Group Asia, commented: "Despite the current complicated scenario, the Costa Group is confirming its investment in fleet expansion. We are confident in the recovery of our industry, and we are excited about the arrival of new ships like the Costa Toscana, which best represents the elements we want to focus on for the future".