Costa Crociere S.p.A. trading as Costa Cruises, is a British/American owned
Italian cruise line, based in Genoa, Italy, and under control of the Carnival
Corporation & plc. Founded in 1854, the company originally
operated cargo ships, in order to carry olive oils and textiles from Sardinia to
Liguria. In 1924 the company passed to founder's sons that started commercial
activities, buying the ship Ravenna. Commercial activities continued until
the introduction of passenger services in 1947, with regular services between
Italy and South America. The company later converted its entire fleet to
full-time cruising, and as an independent company became one of the
largest cruise operators in Europe. Acquired by Carnival Corporation in
2000, Costa Cruises is now one of eleven brands operated by Carnival and accounts
for approximately 16% of its revenue. Today, as Costa Cruises Group, the
company is one of the main operating companies in the Carnival group, with
executive control of the groups activities in Europe. The company is
responsible for operation of Costa Cruises in Italy, and AIDA Cruises in
Germany and was formerly responsible for the operation of Ibero Cruises in Spain.
AIDA was previously a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises, being transferred to
Costa following the merger of Carnival Corporation and P&O Princess in 2002.
Ibero Cruises is a new brand, created in 2007 as a joint venture between Carnival
Corporation and Orizonia Group. The Costa Cruises brand currently
operates fourteen cruise ships, which all sail under the Italian flag and
provide cruise holidays in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the
Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, South East Asia and South America.
The company gained international attention on January 13, 2012 when one
of its cruise ships, the Costa Concordia, ran aground and capsized off
the coast of Italy, because Captain Francesco Schettino wanted to 'salute'
the Italian island of Giglio off Tuscany with a close sail past at night. The
captain was one of the crew to leave the sinking ship early while many passengers
were still on board. The ship was left lying on its starboard side in shallow
water. Thirty-two persons have been confirmed dead. Six weeks later the
company made headlines again when a fire on Costa Allegra left it drifting
without power for 13 hours in waters near Somalia frequented by pirates,
before the ship was taken under tow. On July 27, 2014, after tugboats had
slowly towed the wreck 200 miles north from the island of Giglio over a period
of five days, the Costa Concordia arrived in its home port of Genoa,
Italy, for eventual scrapping. The total cost of the disaster is estimated to be
over $2 billion, including $500 million for the loss of the ship and $1.5
billion for the salvage and recovery operations. On February 11, 2015,
Captain Francesco Schettino was found guilty by an Italian court of multiple
manslaughter, causing the shipwreck, and abandoning his passengers and was
sentenced to 16 years in prison. He will remain free during the lengthy Italian
appeal process. Market position
As of 2015, according to Scott Knutson, vice president of sales and marketing
for Costa Cruises North America, Costa was “... uniquely positioned as the only
international brand that hasn’t adapted its product to the American market. That
authenticity allows us to go to a certain segment of the market. It’s
those vacationers who like the international experience — the food, the
wine, the service." Italians accounted for 25 to 30 percent of bookings on most
Costa cruises, and they were followed by passengers from France, Germany and
Spain. Depending on the season or destination, North Americans could make
up 5 to 15 percent of the passenger list. The "universal" language on board
was English. Current fleet
= Mistral class= = Classica class=
= Victoria class= = Atlantica class=
= Luminosa class= = Fortuna class=
= Concordia class= = Diadema class=
= Future Ships= = Former fleet=
Anna C Built in 10.1955 at Wilton-Fijenoord, Schiedam yard in the
Netherlands. LOA 150.3m, 19.2m, DWT 10,272, Flag Panama, Class Registro
Italiano Navale. Sold in 1981 to Chaldeos Freighters Ltd and renamed
Damenham. Andrea C
Luisa C Maria C
Franca C Flavia C
Federico C Fulvia C
Giovanna C Italia
Bianca C explosion and shipwreck Carla C
Columbus C Danae
Daphne Enrico C
Eugenio C Costa Riviera
Costa Olympia Originally ordered for Costa Cruises but following the
financial collapse of the shipyard the hull was sold to Norwegian Cruise Lines
and became Norwegian Sky. Costa Playa
Costa Tropicale Costa Europa
Costa Marina Costa Concordia
Costa Splendor Originally ordered for Costa Cruises but transferred during
construction to Carnival Cruise Lines and became Carnival Splendor.
Costa Allegra Costa Voyager
Costa Celebration Summer 2015 Itineraries
= Western Mediterranean= Costa Diadema: Naples, La Spezia,
Savona, Marseille, Barcelona & Palma De Mallorca.
Costa Fascinosa: Savona, Civitavecchia, Palermo, Ibiza, Palma De Mallorca &
Barcelona. Costa Magica: Savona, Marseille,
Tangier, Casablanca, Cádiz, Lisbon & Valencia .
Costa neoRiviera: Savona, Toulon, Propriano, Olbia, Trapani, Valletta,
Salerno, Capri & Portoferraio. = Eastern Mediterranean=
Costa Deliziosa: Venice, Bari, Corfu, Mykonos, Santorini & Dubrovnik.
Costa Mediterranea: Trieste, Split, Kotor, Argostoli, Corfu & Dubrovnik.
Costa neoClassica: Venice, Split, Corfu, Santorini, Athens, Istanbul, Izmir,
Mykonos, Argostoli & Dubrovnik. = Norwegian Fjords=
Costa Favolosa: Copenhagen, Hellesylt, Geiranger, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo &
Warnemünde. Costa Pacifica: Kiel, Hellesylt,
Geiranger, Honningsvag, Tromso, Leknes, Trondheim, Andalsnes & Bergen.
Costa Fortuna: Amsterdam, Bergen, Hellesylt, Geiranger, Andalsnes, Olden,
Flåm & Stavanger. Costa neoRomantica: Hamburg, Haugesund,
Kristiansand, Bodø, Sortland, Narvik, Leknes & Flåm.
= Baltic Sea= Costa Pacifica: Kiel, Stockholm,
Helsinki, Saint Petersburg, Tallinn, Riga, Klaipeda & Gdynia.
Costa Luminosa: Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn & Saint Petersburg.
= Asia= Costa Serena
Costa Atlantica Costa Victoria
Accidents and incidents See also Carnival Cruises Accidents and
incidents for incidents associated with the parent company's other cruise
operations. = Costa Concordia sinking=
On January 13, 2012, Costa Concordia ran aground off Isola del Giglio, Tuscany.
The ship capsized and partially sank, killing 32 people. In 2014, the ship was
parbuckled and refloated with caissons, and in July 2014 it was towed to its
home port of Genoa, where it will be dismantled and eventually scrapped.
= Costa Allegra engine room fire, ship adrift=
On February 27, 2012, Costa Allegra suffered an engine room fire and went
adrift in the Indian Ocean. After several days adrift without power, the
ship was towed to the Seychelles island of Desroches but was unable to dock
there. She was then towed to Mahé, Seychelles, where the passengers
disembarked. No casualties were reported.
On 9 March 2012, it was announced that Costa Allegra would not return to
service with Costa, and she was given to Themis Maritime Ltd ship company. In
late 2012, Costa Allegra was beached at Aliaga, Turkey, for scrapping.
Gallery References
= Notes= = Bibliography=
External links Costa Cruises Corporate
Costa Cruises Official Website Costa Cruises fleet location in Google
Maps Costa Line – Linea "C" Page 1A – The
Early Liners 1948–65