Hit hard by the coronavirus epidemic, the Costa group announced on Tuesday that its cruises from Italian ports would partially resume from September 6. The day before, its main competitor MSC had announced a resumption of departures on August 16.
"Following the authorization of the Italian government concerning the resumption of cruises and the communication of the new health protocol, Costa plans to gradually relaunch its activities from Italian ports from September 6, 2020," the group explained in a statement.
Cantoned to the Mediterranean
The Costa Deliziosa ship will weigh anchor on September 6 from Trieste for a weekly cruise around Greece. A second ship, the Costa Diadema, will leave Genoa on September 19 to sail in the western Mediterranean, off Italy and Malta.
These are Costa's first ships to return to sea in the Mediterranean, after several months of suspension of activities. His other trips are on hold until September 30, the group adds.
The brand of the Carnival group has so far posted on its website two departures from Italy (Savona and Venice) on August 15 and 16, but which were not yet confirmed and which will therefore not take place on these dates.
Protocols dedicated to Covid-19
Costa Cruises claims to have "developed the Costa security protocol for its fleet, including new operational procedures in response to the Covid-19 situation". The Italian government on Friday adopted a decree containing a series of measures amounting to 25 billion euros to support the economy of the peninsula, which includes the authorization of the restart of cruise ships from August 15.
On Monday, the MSC Cruises group, Costa's main competitor, announced that it would resume operations as of August 16. MSC is planning two departures from Italy (from Genoa and Bari on August 16 and 29) and will be the first international cruise line to restart its voyages in the Mediterranean.
A sector hit hard
Italy suspended its cruises in March amid the Covid-19 epidemic. The sector weighs 14.5 billion euros in Italy, for around 53,000 jobs, according to the International Association of Cruise Lines.
During the pandemic, several international cruise ships with contaminated passengers on board or suspected of being infected found themselves stranded at sea all over the planet, banned from docking by local authorities, from Japan, via California or Italy. The sector was then pointed out as particularly conducive to the spread of the virus, with its confined spaces and a rather elderly and vulnerable clientele.
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