Costa Group and Carnival Corporation have announced they will hire approximately 4,500 Italian crew members by 2022 to provide support for existing and primarily new ships currently on order.
With over 5,000 Italian crew members currently employed on Carnival Corporation ships, the number of employment opportunities will almost double in number, according to a statement.
The AIDAperla, the new flagship of AIDA Cruises, arrived in Genoa today for the first time.
The Costa Group — which includes the Italian brand Costa Cruises, the German brand AIDA Cruises and Costa Asia — has 76,000 berths on its 27 vessels, the largest fleet of cruise ships flying the Italian flag, said the company.
“Carnival Corporation is one of the biggest foreign investors in Italy, which is a strategic country for our growth,” said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, which includes 10 global cruise line brands that carry nearly 12 million guests a year. “Since 1990 we have built 68 ships in Italian shipyards for various brands in our group of 10 world-leading cruise lines, and another 10 vessels are currently on order or under construction, for a total investment of about 32 billion euros.”
Costa Group and Carnival Corporation are looking into working with one or more of Italy’s nautical institutes. This is a formula that has already been a success with the Italian Merchant Marine Academy, both for deck and engine staff and the hotel side, with the recent opening of the Academy for Italian Cruise Hospitality in Arenzano.
