Fincantieri cuts steel for the next Vista-class ship

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 08 July 2017 08 July 2017

The steel cutting ceremony of the third Vista class cruise ship, which Fincantieri is building for Carnival Cruise Line, a brand under Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise operator, took place on July 7 at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Marghera. She will be delivered in autumn 2019.

The new unit will be a sister ship of Carnival Vista, delivered in Monfalcone in April, 2016, as well as of Carnival Horizon, also currently under construction at the shipyard in Marghera with delivery scheduled at the beginning of 2018.

At 133,500 gross tons and 323 meters long: these are the figures of the“Vista class, which includes the largest ships that Fincantieri has ever built for the Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet. She will have 1,987 passenger cabins added up to the 761 of the crew, being able to accommodate more than 6,500 people onboard, including crew.

"The units of the Vista class are a new technological benchmark, in Europe and worldwide, in terms of cutting-edge layout, extremely high performance and high quality technical solutions. The interior fittings are of an extremely high level quality comfort, offering a wide range of onboard entertainments, restaurants, theatres, shops and wellness centers. On this ship as on the previous ones of the “Vista” class, there will be the Havana Area, a themed private and exclusive area, with cabins, open bars and an Infinity Pool. The access to this area is limited, during the day, only to those passengers whose cabins are in the Havana Area," Fincantieri said in a statement.

Fincantieri has built 78 cruise ships since 1990 (of which 55 from 2002) and other 31 ships are currently being designed or built in the Group's yards.

 

GE Power and Fincantieri agree to co-develop solution to help reduce air pollution in the marine industry

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 08 July 2017 08 July 2017

GE Power and Fincantieri have achieved a significant milestone for the co-development of a new emission control solution to reduce pollution in the marine industry. The new solution, called Shipboard Pollutant Removal System, will help control emissions to be compliant with MARPOL’s more stringent emissions limits directive that will be effective by 2020. The agreement, which follows a previous memorandum of understanding between the two companies from last September, was signed by Sandro De Poli, president and CEO of GE Italy and Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri.

Giuseppe Bono stated: “We are proud to announce this one-of-a-kind agreement. In fact, no shipbuilder before had ever established a partnership to reduce emissions with a system manufacturer, that is one of among the leaders in the area in which it operates. This strategy, having cutting-edge research and innovation at the forefront, will allow us to furthermore raise the bar of technology to the benefit of the cruise market, in a sector, as the one of minimization of environmental impact, which is so significant for our customers”.

“This agreement builds on GE’s and Fincantieri’s long-term relationship and we are proud to develop such an innovative solution with one of the main shipbuilders in the world”, said Sandro De Poli. “To develop the Shipboard Pollutant Removal System, we will combine Fincantieri expertise and GE’s deep domain experience in air quality technologies for the reduction of pollutants in different fields, such as power, aluminium, iron and steel and waste to energy”.

According to the agreement, Fincantieri - actively committed to improving the quality of its products - will define the necessary technical requirements to design an emission control system for a vessel, including constrains and improvements to develop a competitive product. GE Power, with one of the most comprehensive portfolio to treat all main industrial pollutants for power and industry applications and 80 years of experience in environmental control solutions, will define the features that are necessary for an emission control system, to help meet the target performances.

The new product to control SOx and particulates emissions is developed for cruise vessels but can be installed on all vessels using heavy fuel. In addition, it will help ship owners reduce operational costs.

Costa Cruises launches new itineraries in Asia – open also for European and North American guests

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 08 July 2017 08 July 2017

Costa Cruises announced this week it is launching new exotic itineraries in Asia for the 2017-2018 winter season, now available for its European and North American guests.

With its ongoing focus on creating new and innovative vacation options for travellers, the Italian company is offering several new cruises to some of the most appealing destinations in Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia onboard Costa Victoria, and in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea with Costa neoRomantica.

“Our new Asian itineraries are the result of a continuous dialogue with our guests and trade partners,” said Massimo Brancaleoni, SVP of Worldwide Sales for Costa Cruises. “We perceived an interest for new exotic destinations and we quickly answered to satisfy this desire. We are confident that these new options will even further enrich and diversify our selection of winter cruises, and that our past guests and those new to cruising will find very appealing when planning upcoming holidays. As an added benefit, it is always important for us to provide our trade business partners with a larger portfolio of opportunities.”

Added Brancaleoni: “With cruise holidays more popular than ever, we continue to see increasing demand for cruises. As a result, we have a deep commitment to constantly create more value for our guests by providing a wide variety of itineraries and exciting destinations.”

The first innovation for the 2017-2018 winter season is related to Costa Victoria. From 6 January 2018 to 17 February 2018, the ship will depart every Saturday from Singapore to offer two different one-week itineraries, which can be also combined into a single two-week vacation.

The first itinerary will include the stunning island of Koh Samui (Thailand), with some of the most famous beaches in Thailand; an overnight in Bangkok (Thailand); and a call at Sihanoukville (Cambodia). The second itinerary will call at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), the island of Langkawi (Malaysia), Phuket (Thailand) with an overnight, Penang (Malaysia) and Malacca (Malaysia).

In addition, on 24 February 2018, Costa Victoria will offer an exclusive 23-day cruise from Singapore to Savona. Guests will be able to enjoy different experiences on a single trip: the ancient cultures and wonderful landscapes of Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India; the magical atmosphere of Oman; the historical sites of Heraklion (Greece); and the magnificent city of Rome.

The second innovation for the 2017-2018 winter season is related to Costa neoRomantica. From late October 2017 to late January 2018, the ship will be sailing on extraordinary 8-day cruises from Tokyo to discover culture, natural wonders and fascinating futuristic cities of Japan. The itinerary include Nagoya, Okinawa, the island of Miyakojima, one of the most scenic and appreciated destination in Japan, and a call at Keelung (Taiwan). In October and November 2017, guests can combine this itinerary with another 6-day itinerary calling at Kobe or Osaka, the South Korean island of Jeju and Kagoshima. For Christmas 2017, a special 10-day itinerary will be offered, visiting Kobe, AmamiOshima, Ishigaki, Okinawa (overnight call), Yokkaichi and Keelung (Taiwan).

Celestyal extends Thomson Spirit charter to Thomson Cruises by one year

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 06 July 2017 06 July 2017

Celestyal Cruises, the cruise shipping unit in the Cyprus based Louis plc group, has announced a one-year extension of the Thomson Spirit charter to Thomson Cruises in the UK, part of the TUI AG group, for the 2018 season.

Thomson Spirit has been chartered to Thomson since May 2003; per the terms of the charter, the ship will operate as a Thomson Cruises vessel until October 2018 with all services provided by Celestyal Cruises through its wholly owned ship management subsidiary, Optimum Ship Management Services SA, Celestyal said.

Celestyal Cruises’ CEO Kyriakos Anastassiadis said in a statement: “We’re pleased that the (Thomson) Spirit is so popular with passengers in the UK market. Thomson Cruises has been a trusted, valued partner for over two decades, and we look forward to extending our relationship further." The ship was built in France as Nieuw Amsterdam of Holland America Line in 1983.