Carnival Corporation's Costa Cruises Welcomes LNG-Powered Costa Smeralda to Fleet

Costa Cruises, the Italian brand of Carnival Corporation officially took delivery today of Costa Smeralda, the brand's first ship powered by LNG.

The handover ceremony was held at the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland, where the brand's new flagship was built. Costa Smeralda becomes Carnival Corporation's fourth new ship of 2019 and its second LNG-powered ship.

Costa Smeralda is the first of two new sister ships for Costa Cruises that can be powered in port and at sea by LNG. The second vessel, Costa Toscana, is currently under construction at Meyer Turku and scheduled to be delivered in 2021.

In total, following the delivery of Costa Smeralda today and the launch of AIDAnova at the end of 2018 Carnival Corporation has an additional nine next-generation LNG-powered cruise ships on order. Expected delivery dates for these new ships between 2020 and 2025.