Assembling the hull of Costa Toscana, the second of two 185 000 gross ton LNG powered cruise ship for Costa Crociere, began today at Meyer Turku shipyard with traditional lucky coins being placed on the keel blocks, the shipbuilder said in a statement.

Costa Toscana will enter service in late summer of 2021 and it wll follow Costa Smeralda that the Finnish yard handed over to Costa Crociere, which is part of Carnival Corporation & plc, in December 2019.

“This symbolic moment in the construction of Costa Toscana marks a further step forward in the use of LNG in the cruise sector. We were the first in the world to believe in this innovation five years ago, when we ordered these new ships, starting a transformation process toward make tourism increasingly sustainable,” said Neil Palomba, President of Costa Cruises.

"LNG is currently the solution that allows the best and most immediate results to be achieved in terms of reducing the environmental impact of ships,” he noted.

Meyer Turku CEO Jan Meyer reminds that every ship is an evolution from the previous one: “We are always building on the learnings of previous ships, but Costa Toscana will also have totally new designs in many features to inspire her passengers.”