The 1800-passenger Costa neoRomantica will be based in Asia year-round starting from April 10, 2017, the cruise ship’s owner Costa Group said.
The 56,800-gross ton vessel will be the fifth Costa ship deployed regularly in Asia and operated by the Costa Asia brand.
“The deployment of a fifth Costa ship in Asia in 2017, in addition to the two new fleet members that will be built specially for Costa Asia, will allow us to continue to significantly grow the Asian cruise market in particular China, which is set to become the second largest in the world by the end of the decade,” said Costa Group CEO Michael Thamm.
Costa neoRomantica will arrive in Shanghai after a 23-day positioning cruise departing on March 18, 2017 from Port Louis, Mauritius and calling at Port Victoria in Seychelles, Malè in Maldives, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Phuket in Thailand, Singapore, Vietnamese Da Nang, and Hong Kong.
The cruise ship, which will be dry docked in Shanghai for renewal works to customize the vessel, is scheduled to deploy on its first Asian voyage from Shanghai on April 24, 2017.
Costa Group said that at present there are three Costa ships cruising in Asia, while the fourth, Costa Fortuna, is expected to arrive in Shanghai on April 22, 2016.
The company ordered two new 135,500-ton cruise vessels for Costa Asia from Italy’s shipbuilder Fincantieri in December 2015, scheduled for delivery in 2019 and 2020
Source: http://worldmaritimenews.com
