Costa Cruises, Italy’s largest tourism group and Europe’s no. 1 cruise company, is continuing to invest in the quality and sustainability of its fleet. In the space of just three months no less than five Costa ships were dry-docked to carry out scheduled maintenance. Costa Cruises has invested around €22 million in this planned maintenance work.

Operations were carried out on the Costa Serena, the Costa Europa, the Costa Atlantica (in Palermo), the Costa Romantica (in Genoa) and the Costa Concordia (in Trieste) from the end of October 2008 to the end of January 2009.

In particular, the Costa Serena (114,500 gross tonnage and guest capacity of 3780), the company’s and the Italian passenger fleet’s flagship, was the last Costa ship to be dry-docked – from 28 January to 11 February 2009 – in Fincantieri’s Palermo shipyard. Two of the key improvements being made on the Costa Serena are specific shipboard energy- and fuel-saving measures. One involves the installation of special air conditioning regulators, a system already in use on the Costa Fortuna. These devices are designed to increase the efficiency of the air conditioning system in public areas: the airflow adjusts automatically according to the number of people in the room and based on the outside temperature. The other operation involves the application of a special ecological silicone-based coating that inhibits the growth of microorganisms on the hull’s surface without releasing toxic substances into the sea, thereby enhancing hydrodynamic performance while reducing environmental impact thanks to the subsequent decrease in fuel consumption.

Costa Cruises will have 56 Malta cruise calls next year, i.e. between 19 March and 24 December 2010. These will be effected by their luxurious cruise liners, namely Costa Pacifica, Costa Victoria, Costa Fortuna, Costa Serena, Costa Marina, Costa Allegra and Costa Mediterranea.