Meyer Turku floated out the Costa Smeralda, set to debut later this year for Costa Cruises in the Mediterranean.
The ceremony today starts the outfitting phase in the LNG-powered ship’s construction, the yard said.
With LNG a breakthrough in fuel technology, Costa Smeralda represents a major innovation for the international market and an important step toward setting new standards for the entire sector. Costa Group is the market leader in Europe and China, and we continue to make sustainable tourism a key part of our industry leadership,” said Neil Palomba, President of Costa Cruises.
“We have been very excited to bring our expertise in designing, engineering and construction of LNG ships in service for Costa Smeralda. This ship is also going to be a step up in ship size for us, as we are continuing our production ramp-up to two times the level of previous high for the shipyard,” said Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku.
“With the hull of the ship now completed, the next stage of the building process is proceeding to complete all the attractions and features, making sure at the same time that Smeralda will be a safe, reliable and comfortable ship to sail at sea. After the summer the commissioning and testing of the ships myriad of automatic systems will intensify both at the pier and at sea before delivery,” Meyer said.