The cruise industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus scare in Asia with more than 80 voyages cancelled by several cruise lines, and seven ports closed in the region.

More than 6,000 guests and 1600 crew members have been put on lockdown today on the cruise ship Costa Smeralda after a suspected case of coronavirus was detected onboard Costa Cruises flagship. Costa Smeralda is in the port of Civitavecchia and is undergoing checks by Italian health authorities. 

Following the Novel Coronavirus pneumonia outbreak in China, Costa Cruises has released the following information for crew regarding the canceled voyages on four of their cruise ships currently sailing from Chinese ports. Costa cruise ships will remain in their homeports with all crew members onboard following the policies and regulations imposed by health authorities.

In just three weeks, an outbreak of coronavirus has spread from the central Chinese city of Wuhan throughout Asia and as far as the United States, to become a global threat. As of January 23, the National Health Commission announced the number of infected patients by the virus has gone to 830, while the death toll has risen to 26 people.

Today, January 13, marks the 8th anniversary of the Costa Concordia disaster which left 32 dead, 157 injured in the tragedy and 4,000 passengers and crew traumatized, after the cruise ship run aground at Isola del Giglio, an island off the coast of Tuscany, Italy.

Following the protests in France, the cruise ship Costa Smeralda has canceled its scheduled arrival in Marseille. Instead, the first LNG powered cruise ship for Costa Cruises will sail directly to Italy. During her inaugural voyage, the ship departed from the Finnish shipyard Meyer Turku on December 5. The first stop was in Barcelona where the ship refueled its LNG tanks and was presented to the Spanish market in a grand ceremony.

The Italian cruise line Costa Cruises took delivery of the cruise ship Costa Smeralda, a new flagship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the fossil fuel with low environmental impact that represents a real novelty in the cruise sector. The delivery ceremony took place at the Meyer shipyard in Turku (Finland), where the ship was built. Costa Smeralda is the first ship of the Costa fleet to use liquefied natural gas both in port and at sea.

A fundraiser to support Venice devastating flooding was organized by the Port Authorities. Pino Musolino, President of the Port of Venice sent a letter to all cruise lines calling to Venice, asking for their help and support. 

Costa Cruises and Fincantieri celebrated the official float-out of the latest cruise ship Costa Firenze. As part of the official float-out ceremony, Costa Firenze touched the sea for the very first time.

The Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS) awarded Costa Cruises Captain Pietro Sinisi for saving the crew of a cargo ship which was on fire in the Aegean Sea. Captain Sinisi received this prestigious award in Rayburn House Office Building, in Washington DC, during the annual award ceremony.