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Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, said: "The end of year is approaching and it's time for us to take stock. 2012 has been an extremely difficult year, especially for shipbuilding. Total global investments have been little more than a quarter of those in 2007, resulting in a halving of the number of cruise ship orders. We’ve done our part, by securing almost all of these orders and confirming the dual challenge we set ourselves: on the one hand, to focus on sectors that offer good opportunities for development, and on the other, to maintain our leadership in our traditional sectors. Today, as we start work on what will be another splendid ship for our friends at Costa, we’re looking to the future with a bit more certainty." During the ceremony, the first building block of the ship – weighing approximately 504 tonnes, measuring 15.7 meters in breadth by 29 meters in length and forming the central part of the ship – was lifted by a crane and laid on the bottom of the dock where the ship will take shape. The construction and fitting-out will continue until October 30, 2014, the ship’s scheduled date of delivery. The Costa Diadema project will employ a total of approximately 1,000 shipyard workers plus another 2,500 employees of allied industries. Indeed, the benefits in terms of employment extend beyond the yard, especially regarding the fitting-out of the interiors of the ship, with the involvement of about 400 contracted suppliers, most of which are Italian firms. Costa has invested a total of around 550 million euros in the new flagship. She will be the biggest cruise ship flying the Italian flag: 132,500 gross tonnage, 306 meters in length, 37.2 meters in breadth, 4,947 total Guests, 1,253 crew members, 1,854 Guest cabins. The Costa Diadema will be even more inviting and more fun, both internally and externally, with exclusive innovations regarding the choice of cuisine, entertainment and technology. The construction of ships is only one of the wealth creating activities for the Italian economy linked to Costa. According to a study by MIP, the Milan Polytechnic Business School, in 2010 Costa Crociere S.p.A. generated an economic impact of over 2.2 billion euros for the nation’s economy, and this output was distributed throughout the country. The MIP investigation also measures the Costa Group’s very substantial contribution to employment: 12,300 jobs, of which 3,600 within the Group and 8,700 generated all the way along the supply chain and including job creation among tourism service providers (based on the FTE – full-time equivalent – calculation method), with total gross income from this employment exceeding 373 million euros. Fincantieri press release |
Weighing in at 132,500 gross tonnage and with accommodation for a total of 4,947 Guests, this will be the biggest Italian-flagged cruise ship afloat. She is the 10th Costa ship built by Fincantieri in Italy since 2000, with a total investment worth almost 5 billion euros.
The building and fitting-out, which are due for completion at the end of October 2014, will employ around 3,500 workers and 400 contracted suppliers.