The Costa neoRiviera will enter San Giorgio del Porto shipyard on Oct. 30 and leave as the AIDAmira on Nov. 28 following a nearly month-long, $55 million drydock to refurbish the vessel and convert her for AIDA service, according to a statement.
It’s another big project in the booming cruise ship drydock market.
The deal was made official today with a signing ceremony featuring Michael Thamm, Group CEO Costa Group and Carnival Asia, and Ferdinando Garrè, CEO of San Giorgio del Porto, in the presence of the President of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, Paolo Emilio Signorini and the Councilor for City Planning, Public Property and Urban Renewal of the Municipality of Genoa, Simonetta Cenci.
A total of about 1,000 workers will be involved, 150 of them working directly for the shipyard with the balance coming from subcontractors.
“This new investment in the city of Genoa, with a local partner like San Giorgio del Porto, is a further tangible sign of our link with Genoa and Liguria and of the positive impact that our company can have locally,” said Michael Thamm, Group CEO Costa Group and Carnival Asia. “We have carried out a study on this subject, which has given very impressive results: in just one year, the Costa Group has generated an economic impact in Europe of 12.6 billion euros and over 63,000 jobs. It is precisely the shipbuilding industry that accounts for the largest part of this impact, thanks to the plan to expand and renew our fleet, but also the contribution that comes directly from each guest, amounting on average to 74.60 euros in every port visited, is particularly significant. Italy is among the top destinations for our guests, with 3.2 million passenger movements, a figure that is going to grow also thanks to AIDAmira, which will be calling at three ports in Southern Italy next summer.”
“We are honored that the Costa Group continues to give us confidence and to believe in the know-how and technical skills of the Genoese shipbuilding industry and of San Giorgio del Porto in particular, despite the many infrastructure-related difficulties that continue to prevent the full development of ship repair and refitting activities. Costa’s decision to bring a job of this magnitude to Genoa could not be taken for granted and for this we are grateful to the company,” said Ferdinando Garrè, CEO of San Giorgio del Porto.
Leaving the yard on Nov. 28, the ship is scheduled to arrive in Palma de Mallorca on November 29 to be renamed AIDAmira.
She will become the fourth ship in the AIDA Selection program, offering longer itineraries to off-the-beaten-path ports.
After a four-night v cruise in the Western Mediterranean, the AIDAmira will be positioned to South Africa, offering 14-day cruises from Cape Town. From May to September 2020, she will offer two different one-week itineraries, which can be combined into a single 14-day cruise, departing from Corfu: one to Athens, Santorini, Crete and Brindisi, and the other to Malta, Catania, Crotone, Olympia and Kefalonia.
