Construction of second Costa Cruises ship starts at Meyer Turku shipyard
The steel cutting ceremony of the second Costa Cruises ship build at Meyer Turku commenced with new traditions: The brand new plasma cutter line was used for the first time in a production start ceremony, Meyer Turku says in a press release.
Costa Cruises’ Costa Toscana will be the first ship benefitting fully from the new panel line of Meyer Turku. The panel line is just one of the major over 100 million euro investments inside the steel halls, the whole shipyard going through an investment program of 200 million euros. “Modern shipyard for modern ships”, states CEO of Meyer Turku Jan Meyer and continues:
“With the first Costa ship, Costa Smeralda, being delivered in October, both of these ships will have lots of beautiful design and interesting features – and of course very high quality work and best-in-industry engineering. We are very proud to build these ships for Costa.”
The Costa Smeralda and Costa Toscana, slated for delivery in October 2019 and 2021, will both be tributes to “Italy’s finest”. With gross tonnage of over 180,000 and more than 2600 staterooms on each, the Costa Smeralda and Costa Toscana are part of the Costa Group’s fleet expansion plan, with seven new ships scheduled to enter service by 2023.
“The steel-cutting ceremony for the Costa Toscana is another step forward in our sustainable development plan. LNG propulsion for cruise ships is a major innovation, pioneering a new era in the use of low carbon fuels that will significantly reduce exhaust emissions to help protect the environment without compromising on safety, in line with our top priorities,” Costa Cruises President Neil Palomba says.
At the same time Meyer Turku is investing into facilities, machines and IT-systems, the company is recruiting some 200 new shipbuilders each year with a mix of professionals: white-collars working with the designs, project management, procurement, quality control and as foremen but also skilled blue collar craftsmen.
“We are in constant need of qualified workforce and are also willing and able to train people even without previous background in shipbuilding. Shipbuilding in Turku now has a long and predictable future with our order book reaching to 2025. We warmly welcome everybody with strong motivation and good background to apply to work with us”, CEO Jan Meyer says.
