Costa Crociere S.p.A. (Italian pronunciation: ['k?sta kro't??:re]), operating as Costa Cruises (Italian: Costa Crociere), is an Italian cruise line, based in Genoa, Italy, owned by 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 (Federico, Eugenio and Enrico) 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 ten 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 fifteen 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 of the Costa Concordia 200 miles (320 kilometers) 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. An Italian appeals court on May 31, 2016 upheld the 16-year prison sentence.
Video Costa Cruises
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.
Maps Costa Cruises
Fleet
Current fleet
Mistral class
Classica class
Victoria class
Atlantica class
Fortuna (Triumph) class
Concordia class
Luminosa class (Vista Class)
Diadema (Dream) class
Future Ships
Former Fleet
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.
MV Bianca C
On Sunday October 22, 1961, the Bianca C was off Grenada when an explosion occurred in the engine room causing the deaths of two crew members and the ship to catch fire. Local fishermen helped rescue the passengers and crew but as the local authorities did not have the equipment to extinguish the fire the ship was left to burn until the British frigate HMS Londonderry arrived from Puerto Rico. The burning ship was in the main anchorage and would block the harbour if it sank there, so the Londonderry towed it to a different location where the Bianca C sank.
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
Source of article : Wikipedia
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