The long-debated destiny of Costa Magica has lastly been determined as Carnival Corporation & plc has confirmed the sale of the vessel to Seajets, a Greek ferry operator, for an undisclosed quantity.
The new proprietor has not introduced any rapid plans for the cruise ship, which has been out of passenger service since March 2020, by no means having resumed visitor operations after the pandemic lockdown.
Costa Magica Sold
The Destiny-class Costa Magica has been bought to the Marios Iliopoulos-led Seajets high-speed ferry firm. The ship’s destiny has been unsure for a while, because it was announced in June 2021 to be transferred to the Carnival Cruise Line fleet.
That plan was dismissed in mid-2022 when it was introduced that Costa Luminosa would as an alternative change into Carnival Luminosa, whereas Costa Magica was to stay with Costa Cruises in the interim. The ship had not been crusing for the reason that industry-wide shutdown started in March 2020, being one of many few ships to not resume visitor service.
In the meantime, Costa Magica was supplied to deal with Ukrainian refugees in March 2022, with Costa Cruises reaching out to the Italian authorities with that proposal. Though beneficiant and appreciated, the provide was finally pointless.
In late December 2022, as a part of the Fourth Quarter 2022 Business Update from Carnival Corporation, it was introduced that three “smaller-less efficient ships” can be faraway from the company’s total fleet. At that point, it was recognized that two of the ships can be retired from the Costa Cruises fleet, however the names of the vessels weren’t launched.
Then, in early January, AIDAaura was confirmed to be leaving the AIDA Cruises fleet as a part of these optimization plans. Now we all know that Costa Magica might be one other of the impacted vessels, however the third vessel remains to be unknown, apart from the truth that it will likely be retired from Costa Cruises.
At this time, two extra Costa ships – Costa Serena and Costa Diadema – are nonetheless in lay up, although Costa Diadema is slated to renew passenger operations in April 2023 with Mediterranean itineraries. Costa Serena can also be scheduled to renew service in December 2023, however her itinerary plans aren’t but finalized and he or she shouldn’t be listed on the Costa Cruises web site any longer.
What Will Become of the Former Carnival-Owned Ship?
With Costa Magica now belonging to Seajets, her future remains to be murky. The firm, which operates a fleet of high-speed ferries within the Aegean Sea, has bought a number of cruise ships for the reason that pandemic started, scrapping two vessels and preserving others in layup in the interim.
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It is feasible that Seajets has plans to start providing cruise service, or could renovate the ships for modified ferry service of some form. No official announcement of their plans has been made.
In addition to Costa Magica, Seajets has additionally bought Holland America Line’s Veendam, P&O Cruises Australia’s Pacific Aria, P&O Cruises Oceana, and Royal Caribbean International’s Majesty of the Seas. Of all of the ships, Costa Magica is the youngest, having first debuted in 2004. The different ships first set sail in 1996, 1994, 2000, and 1992, respectively.
Costa Magica can host 2,718 passengers and weighs in at 102,784 gross tons. This additionally makes her the biggest gross tonnage vessel Seajets has bought prior to now two years, with one of many highest visitor capacities (Majesty of the Seas is barely larger with a 2,767 visitor capability). Of course, Seajets could do any form of renovation to the vessel to dramatically change her dimension, capability, or venues, or the vessel could but be scrapped or resold.