By
Michele Witthaus |
Construction work on Costa Cruises’ new flagship began on 10 December at the Fincantieri’s Marghera yard in Italy. Set to be the largest Italian-flagged cruise ship, the 132,500 gt Costa Diadema will be 306 metres in length and will carry a total of 4,947 guests and 1,253 crew members. There will be 1,854 guest cabins on the ship, which will be the tenth of Costa’s 14 ships to be built by the yard since 2000. Building and fitting out will be completed by the end of October 2014 and Fincantieri expects to employ around 3,500 workers and 400 contracted suppliers on the project.
Costa Cruises CEO Michael Thamm and president Gianni Onorato attended a ceremony to mark the start of construction, along with Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono. “The construction of the Costa Diadema is a tangible commitment to the future growth of our Company,” said Thamm. “It is significant not only for us but also for Italy in general and Venice in particular. The Costa Diadema consolidates our alliance with Fincantieri, which has already resulted in the building of 10 new ships for us since 2000, worth a total of almost €5 billion with the creation of wealth and employment for the country as a whole.”
Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono said: “The end of year is approaching and it's time for us to take stock. 2012 has been an extremely difficult year, especially for shipbuilding. Total global investments have been little more than a quarter of those in 2007, resulting in a halving of the number of cruise ship orders. We’ve done our part, by securing almost all of these orders and confirming the dual challenge we set ourselves: on the one hand, to focus on sectors that offer good opportunities for development, and on the other, to maintain our leadership in our traditional sectors. Today, as we start work on what will be another splendid ship for our friends at Costa, we’re looking to the future with a bit more certainty.”