Costa s Mario Zanetti, left, said Toscana s float-out is a further strong sign of cruising s return. At center, the cannoneers. At right, water begins to flood the dock With the shipyard s traditional cannon blast, Meyer Turku opened the floodgates to float out Costa Toscana in bitter winter conditions.
The 185,000gt, LNG-powered ship, the sister of Costa Smeralda, is scheduled for deiivery in December when it will make a beeline to the tropics Brazil for an inaugural New Year s Eve cruise.
Given the frigid temperatures at Turku expected to drop to minus 20 degrees C tonight the shipyard began the float-out procedure Thursday. It will take eight hours for the 350m liters of seawater to fill the dock, then Costa Toscana will be towed to an outfitting quay, according to Kalle Hyttiä, project manager, Meyer Turku.